In 2019 I was selected to be a guest bride blogger for The Coordinated Bride Blog. This entry is all bout choosing and proposing to my bridesmaids! You can read the rest of them on the Wedding Tab of the website.
Choosing my ladies
Choosing my bridesmaids was pretty easy! From the time I knew Terrence was “the one,” I’ve known who my Bridesmaids would be. This group of ladies truly represents every phase of my life and I couldn’t imagine taking this major step without them.
- MOH: My baby sister Jessica
- Taylor: My 1st friend since elementary school
- Gelisa: My cousin who I grew up with
- Catherine: My cousin/sister who I really got close with as an adult
- Ashley: My childhood friend who has become soooo much more
- Katie: My first college friend
- Alexandria: My Sorority sister
- Rhiannon*: My soulmate/Post-college friend
- Chaquira*: My co-worker turned big sister
I’ll get to the asterisks in a bit :). Not only are these ladies ride or die about me, they each have their own relationship with my Fiancé! That was important to both of us. When sharing our list, it was very easy, because they have been there before and during our relationship and we clearly see them in our future.
My biggest piece of advice when choosing your bridesmaids is looking ahead. Will these ladies be there for US in the future? Will they pray for US without asking? Can we go to them for advice? Will they celebrate our love in a selfless manner? That is how Terrence and I show love, we physically show up and support the people we love no matter what. We wanted people around us that would do the same.
The Proposal
They all knew it was coming, they just didn’t know when. My bridesmaids are also in 4 different cities, so I had to be strategic because shipping cost are NUTS. It just so happened that 5/8 would be in NOLA for my 30th Birthday celebration and my sister could take 2 home with her meaning I only had to ship 1.
I put together a box of a few things I felt would be indicative of what they could expect from the journey (Both boxes came from Etsy, my friend Chanel did the handwritten notes and I made the Quarts note in Word):
- Champagne – It will be a party
- Rose quartz – We are celebrating love
- Macarons – They know how long it takes me to make them, so this was my way of showing them that I won’t stop being a great friend and spoiling them
- A note– It had the details of the day –They all immediately asked, “who wrote these,” my handwriting is horrendous, and they all know this LOL
I gathered them up on day 2 of the celebration and let them know a few things:
- I love them and want them by my side at the wedding and this next phase of life
- We are having a destination wedding so if they feel like being a BM is too expensive, “Will you be my Bridesmaid?” is a real question and they can say no
- If you say yes, “YOU KNOW ME, YOU KNOW HOW I AM, don’t talk no s&*t” LOL
Now for the **
Rhi happened to get pregnant and will no longer be able to attend the wedding. Babies are blessings and I was extremely happy for them, but equal parts devastated! It took a while for me to reconcile the fact that she wouldn’t be there, so an addition wasn’t even a thought.
After a few months, I decided I was fine having 7 ladies and 8 guys but was also telling my Fiancé how I would love to ask Chaquira. I didn’t want her to feel like an afterthought, so I decided against it and stuck with 7 and 8. I try to remind myself that this is our day and it can look how we want it, things don’t have to be uniform or per tradition. But the following day I was telling my girls a random story and Chaquira goes, “Oh I thought you were going to ask me to be a bridesmaid, I was so excited.” I literally screamed lol now I can ask her and know it won’t hurt her feelings. It was perfect! I totally forgot to get pictures, but I got her a bottle of wine with a personalized label and macarons as well and proposed on NYE, we both cried lol.
These ladies have been so amazing! One just got married in June, two are planning their own weddings and the rest have a lot of life happening, but they have not missed a beat. Not only have they been a huge help with all things weddings, they are also still great friends. They make sure I am okay, outside of wedding planning that is how I know I 100% made the right decision choosing them.
XOXO,
The Future Mrs. Jordan
Ps. I have added a few pictures from our Groomsmen Proposal as well 😊
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