Wedding Wednesdays: Bridal Shower Fun! Holiday Season Gift Baskets!

I love gift baskets!! Gift baskets are so much fun to make and a hot commodity at any bridal shower! There are so many great ideas out there that I see repeated over and over again with the most adorable poems or cards attached:

-Basket of Firsts: Filled with wine or candles to celebrate "firsts" of marriage
-Honeymoon Necessities 
-House Cleaning Supplies 

If you Pinterest or Google these, tons of ideas will come up!

I created many of these baskets for my sister's bridal shower a few years ago and I also received many gift baskets at my bridal shower, too! Here are a few that my girls made me:

My absolute most favorites were the SEASONAL Gift Baskets! 

Since I was a little girl, my mom always decorated our house with fun decorations for the holidays. Holidays in our home were a big deal! When I moved out of my house, I barely had any holiday decorations. Knowing how important the holidays are to me, my sister decided to make this a focal point at my bridal shower.

She reached out to my bridesmaids and they each signed on to make a  "seasonal gift basket" filled with fun decorations for every holiday in the fall, winter, spring, and summer.

Each seasonal basket was filled to the brim with fun decorations to display around the house: wreaths, signs, door hangers, scented candles, soaps, garland, banners, and picture frames. They even thought of the littlest things from salt and pepper shakers, to wine glass charms, to cheese knives, and fun kitchen towels. Even the actual baskets tied in with the theme... Easter baskets for spring, picnic baskets for summer! My amazing bridesmaids thought of everything! They were decorated so pretty, with cellophane, so that guests at the shower could peek inside. I also resisted the urge to unpack them for a few weeks because they were too beautiful!

I wish I had excellent pictures to display of each basket that the girls made, but I only have pictures from afar that don't do them justice. (I'm so sorry girls!) Here are a few examples of what season baskets might look like:

As a newlywed, I can't express how much these baskets meant to me. Our first holidays together as husband and wife were extra special! When I finally opened the baskets, my heart ached because each one was so unique; my bridesmaids put so much thought into making them. So far, I've decorated for the fall and winter holidays. I will be pulling out my spring stuff soon. It's extra special decorating because each item was carefully selected for me. I can see myself in the future, decorating my house with my children, saying "Aunt Rosie, Michelle, Frances, and Amanda gave these to us!"

My bridesmaids made these baskets over the course of my engagement. This idea is one that any bride would appreciate and also one that any bridal party could manage. If you're on a tight budget, you can always scour the aisles of Target or Home Goods  after each holiday passes and find many items deeply discounted and at a great deal!

What holidays does your bride celebrate? Create baskets based off of those celebrations!

Get creative! My bridesmaids used different kinds of baskets, but also stuffed holiday containers, ice buckets, and a picnic baskets/cooler with their gifts.

Keep it simple with wrapping! Everyone will want to peek inside the baskets at the shower!