My Maids...And How I Asked Them

There are a few things you hear constantly when you get engaged:

"Let me see the ring"
"Did you set a date?"
"Where are you getting married?"
"Who's in your wedding party?"

This last question was one that I thought about a lot over the past few years. I always knew Mike and I would get married one day, and to tell you the truth, the girls I had in mind a few years ago are almost completely different than the ones that will actually be standing with me that day. That just goes to show how much can change in a couple of years.

So how did I choose my girls? Well I thought about it long and hard. Who has been there for me? Who doesn't judge me? Who can I see myself still being close with in 10 years? Who do I have the most fun with? Who knows ME? Once we decided how many would be in our wedding party, it was easy for me to know who I would choose. And also hard for me, knowing there were a couple girls that are all the things I listed above but we just didn't want a larger wedding party.

So here are my girls:

Maid of Honour-Shauna
I've known Shauna for 5-6 years now. We met because her husband and Mike grew up together. We went to their wedding 5 years ago, and when we would visit from Calgary and see them we always had a good time. When we moved back to Ontario over 2 years ago, we became a lot closer. She has the same kind of humour as I do, and I can literally tell her ANYTHING without worrying if she will think I'm weird. She's my soul sista!



Shauna (on the right) and I in Jamaica last year

 Maid-Jenny
Jenny and I went to high school together, but we weren't really friends then. We dated the same guy (at different times!) and I don't think she liked me that much at first. After high school we started hanging out through a mutual friend, and we've been close friends ever since. It's been almost 10 years! Jenny and I have had our ups and downs, and while I was in Calgary we would lose touch every now and again. But I always knew if I needed her, even if we hadn't talked in a long time, she would be there for whatever I needed. We've been through a lot together, and any time I was down she was the first person there helping me pick myself up.

Jenny!

Maid-Kristen
Kristen and I met while we were both living in Calgary. She is dating another Mike who went to high school with my Mike (confusing I know). After they moved out west, some of our mutual friends came to visit, and we all got together one of the nights. We were pretty much inseparable after that. A year later, when it was my last night in Calgary before moving home, we were in my parents foyer after a night out crying and hugging about how much we would miss each other. We talked about how we would be in each others weddings one day. And now that day has come! 


Kristen!

Maid-Lisa Lisa is Mike's sister. I grew up with 2 brothers, and always wondered what it would be like to have a sister. I felt that it was very important for me to have her as a bridesmaid, because I know we will be in each other's lives forever. She is an extremely talented graphic designer and I'm SO excited that she has been able to help me design all the wedding stationery. She also co-hosted my bridal shower with my future mother-in-law and did an amazing job.


Lisa!

Asking my maids was something I wanted to hype up a little. I had seen these "be my maid" boxes on a blog I follow quite awhile ago, and was instantly in love with them.



Photo from rinserepeatblog.com

Check out the Rinse. Repeat. blog tutorial where I drew my inspiration. I pretty much followed the tutorial other than changing the wording, photos, and colours. I also added their initia to the front of the box, and I freehanded all the writing rather than using stickers or a stencil. Instead of using pre-scalloped cards, I printed the descriptions out and glued them to cardstock, then cut the edges using scallop scissors. The last difference was the VISA gift card. After going to the store to buy them, and realizing there was a $6 fee to activate them, I opted for just making a little money holder out of card stock and just giving them cash instead.

Here's how mine turned out!

All 4 girls were very surprised by the boxes and thought they were neat and cute. They all said yes of course and now they have been by my side helping me every step of the way. As I had mentioned before, my future mother-in-law and sister-in-law hosted an amazing shower for me. All of my bridesmaids were able to be there as well as my mom who was visiting from Calgary. I was overwhelmed with all of the guests gifts and well wishes. I'm not used to having so much attention on me, but I guess I will have to get used to it for the wedding!