How could you have coped without your Chief Bridesmaid? With all the wedding kerfuffle going on, she has been your rock. When you nearly had a nervous breakdown over the wrong flower arrangements, she kept you calm. From planning the hen party, shopping for ‘the’ dress, helping the groom pick out your ring, to menu tasting and choosing the perfect reception décor, she has been a godsend. So what could you possibly get her to thank her for being your unofficial wedding planner? Here are some great ideas for chief bridesmaid gifts.
Spa day or weekend
Planning a wedding is a very stressful time even with the excitement of planning your special day. Your chief bridesmaid has been taking some of that pressure off you, but is bound to feel some stress from playing such an important role in your wedding. While you’re being whisked away on your most deserved honeymoon, why not treat her at the same time and book her into a lovely spa retreat? She can de-stress with endless massages, facials, manicures and rejuvenating treatments, re-charging her batteries and enjoying some well-deserved time out. Depending on your budget and her schedule, spa days can start from £90 (which includes a couple of treatments) and spa weekends start from £190, depending on season and location.
Jewellery for chief bridesmaid
Jewellery is a popular chief bridesmaid gift as it has sentimental value and can be personalised to the individual. Whether you decide to go for a necklace, pair of earrings, bespoke charm bracelets or a complete jewellery set, it’s important to know her taste and style. Jewellery as a gift is something personal which she’ll treasure so it might be a good idea to play detective while you’re out doing wedding bits to get an idea of what she likes and would get the most use out of.
Above, clockwise from top left at the Confetti shop: flower and white pearl jewellery set | white pearl necklace with personalised pendant | personalised heart locket | personalised sweet charms bracelet
Personalized photo frames and photo albums
Personalised photo albums are an ideal way for your chief bridesmaid to record the best moments of the day. Professional photographs are great, but behind the scenes snap shots and captions in a diary format would be even more memorable. The album could include moments and events leading up to the wedding including the hen night, dress fitting and rehearsals. Making a personalised album is inexpensive and easy to do though a little time consuming so make sure you put time aside to put it together before the big day. You can collate all your photos, save them in one file and use sites like PhotoBox, Snapfish and My Photo Book to create a personalised album yourself.
Above, clockwise from top left at the Confetti shop: Forever Friends personalised wedding photo album | personalised black swirl photo frame | wooden personalised photo frame | printed heart wedding photo album
Flowers and Champagne
You can never go wrong by showering your chief bridesmaid with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a bottle of her favourite champagne. This gift could also be factored into the wedding as you could present it to her during the reception and say a few words of how much you appreciate all her hard work. This could be accompanied with a ‘thank you’ card with a special, personal message that she is sure not to forget.
Gift card
A girl will never say no to shopping, so a gift card from her favourite store or brand is sure to be appreciated. This gift may be a little less traditional, but if you know that she really wants to update her wardrobe or needs holiday clothes, then it’s perfect. Maybe she has been saving up for an expensive pair of shoes that your budget can’t quite stretch to and a gift card will help to pay for? Whatever she does decide to buy with the gift card will remind her of how grateful you were to her being such an awesome chief bridesmaid.
