The Ultimate Groomsmen Gift Guide

Gift Ideas for Your Wedding Party

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I don’t know about you, but I find buying gifts for the men in my life much more difficult than female family and friends, especially when I’m trying to avoid the cliché ‘man’ gifts and instead want something more personal and tailored to them.

So it’s possible you might be unsure of what to buy your Groomsmen/Father of the Bride/Father of the Groom/Best Man (delete as appropriate) as a thank you for their help and support during the run up to the Big Day. But fear not, we’re here to help with the ultimate Groomsmen gift guide, covering all budgets and interests!

For even more gift ideas, check out our Groomsmen Gift Guide Pinterest board.

All the items featured in the video are linked below. Any links marked with an * are affiliate links. This means we make a small amount of commission on any purchases made through those links at no extra cost to you.

Clothing and Accessories:
Personalised Wooden Wedding Venue Coordinate Cufflinks*
Morse Code Secret Personalised Initial Bar Cufflinks*
Personalised belt*
Secret Message Tie Bar*
Personalised Sterling Silver Tie Clip*
AllSaints Fragrance
Tie

Keepsake Gifts:
Personalised Monogram Charging Station*
Set Of Four Personalised Couples Retro Style Beer Mats*
Men’s Personalised Stag Watch Box*
Personalised hand stamped lures*
Money Clip*

Boozy Items:
Personalised Bottle Opener*
Personalised Auric Brass Bottle Opener*
Personalised Luxury Boxed Wedding Stag Hip Flask Set*
Groomsmen Flask Set*
An Introduction To Manchester Craft Beer Box*
Japanese Whisky Tasting Set*
Personalised Frosted Tumbler*
Personalised Whiskey Tumbler In Solid Oak*
Oak Effect Beer Bottle Carrier*
Whiskey Personalised Bottle Box*

Travel and Activity Gifts:
Day Off Spent Blacksmithing At Oldfield Forge*
Personalised Golf Score Card Holder*
Personalised Best Man Buffalo Leather Wash Bag*
Monochrome Personalised Passport Case*
Monochrome Luggage Tag*
Bike Track Map Personalised Tool Tin Gift Set*
Pebble Leather Personalised Glasses Case*
Personalised Glasses Case*

Hamper Gifts:
A Man’s Essentials Gift Box*
Dark Chocolate Lovers Gift Hamper*

Let us know if this has inspired you with your Groomsmen gifts, or if you have any more ideas, leave them in the comments below!

-Bride Society

The Final Countdown!

Final Week Wedding Planning Checklist

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You’ve been planning for this day for months, if not years (or maybe since you were 6!).  You’ve made Pinterest boards, spreadsheets and to-do lists, you’ve been to fairs, meetings, fittings, trials and tastings, and DIY’d every last detail.  And now finally, after all that, W-Day is only a week away and you’ve got your finger hovering over that automated ‘Out-of-Office’ reply!

Maybe the obscure wedding dreams have started to kick in?  Or you’re chatting with colleagues but odd little wedding to-do jobs keep popping into your mind?  We get it, we’ve been there, we’re here to help!

Firstly, congrats on getting to this point!  ESPECIALLY if you’ve had to plan this thing more than once thanks to C#!*D.

At this point, the bulk of the work is behind you and it’s time for the final pieces to fall into place ready for you to enjoy your wedding day and have all your hard work pay off.  Laura and I are sending you and your fiancé(e) a massive virtual high-five right now!

To help this final week go smoothly and so you can rest easy knowing you’ve got everything covered, we’ve put together a Final Week Wedding Planning Checklist – the tasks that you’ll need to get checked off in this final countdown…obviously there may be a few additions you need to add that are personal to you, but we think you’ll be glowing with confidence after you’ve conquered our list.

Check it out in our latest YouTube video here:

We hope you find it helpful!  If got any other suggestions for the checklist, leave them in the comments to help out other brides and grooms who might be watching!

Don’t forget you can find us over on Instagram for even more content!

— Rebecca and Laura at Bride Society

To Marquee or To Not Marquee…

What to consider when planning a marquee wedding

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As soon as you get engaged and the wedding planning begins, the decisions start thick and fast. Arguably one of the most important decisions, and a big one to tick off the checklist, is the venue!

Coming in all shapes and sizes, there’s a lot of choice when it comes to finding your dream venue. City centre? Rustic barn? Country House?

Or one route you may be considering is a marquee/tipi/yurt for either, both parts of the day, or for your reception celebrations. And if you’re looking for a blank canvas venue where you can be in control of every detail of the day, it could be the perfect way to go.

BUT, there are a few things to consider which may not have even crossed your mind. That’s where we come in! This week’s video is sharing everything you need to think about when planning a marquee wedding.

If you think we’ve missed anything or want to share your own experiences, please leave a comment below.

And if you’ve got any questions or video requests, comment and we’ll do our best to help. For more content, find us on Instagram @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to get to know you better!

-Bride Society

When one proposal just isn’t enough!

Bridesmaid Proposal Boxes

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You & your fiancé(e) have had your proposal moment and now it’s the turn of your bridal party. You’ve decided who you want by your side through your wedding planning journey, who will be your biggest supporters & cheer squad in the run up and on the big day itself.  So now all that’s left is to ask…by no means as important as that initial “yes!” but it runs a close second! 

Over the past few years, it has become a popular trend to ‘pop the question’ with your friends by giving them a proposal box of a few small gifts and a card asking, ‘will you be my bridesmaid?’ to make the occasion a little more special as well as pre-emptively letting them know you appreciate them for everything they are about to take on as part of their role within your wedding.

Now, all that said, if you’re feeling a little stuck for ideas of what to include in your boxes, we’re here to help in this video

Have you got anything else you’re including in your boxes?  Let us know in the comments to help inspire other brides who are watching!

For even more Bridesmaid Gift Ideas check out Not On The High Street here (affiliate link).

Got any questions or video requests? Comment and we’ll do our best to help. For more content, find us on Instagram @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to get to know you better!

Rebecca & Laura at Bride Society

Questions to Ask Your Wedding Venue

  • Said Yes
  • Date set
  • Venue Booked

But now you’re in the midst of wedding planning, suppliers are asking questions and you’re realising you don’t have all the answers. 

What time can you get into the venue on the morning to start getting ready with your bridal party? And who is actually expected to clean up at the end of the night? 

Most venues will offer a meeting after you’ve booked with them to give you an opportunity to have another look at the space and answer any questions you may have. But, what are those questions, and what information might you not even know you need to know? 

Grab your pen and paper as you’ll want to make notes. We’ve got the essential questions you should be asking your venue before your Big Day. 

  • Unexpected wedding planning surprises successfully avoided

Let us know if you think we’ve missed any important questions by commenting below, and help out other couples on their wedding planning journey.

Looking for more wedding content from us?  Check out our Instagram and Pinterest!

– Bride Society

Small but Mighty

Lotus Napkin Folding

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These will set your wedding reception tables apart (or dinner party)!  Folding your napkins into lotus flowers is simpler than you might think, and they really make an impression.  Every time I’ve laid a table with these, I have heard guests admiring them…some even saying they are too pretty to use – whilst this may not be our goal, we totally respect the decision and we’ll take the compliment!  It’s one of those little touches at your wedding that will always get noticed, and in my book, that means it’s totally worth the time.  Low cost + high impact = wedding win!

What’s even better is that although this DIY will take a little time, as you’ll need one for every place setting, they can be made well in advance of the day as long as they’re kept dry and dust-free, meaning you get a very satisfying tick off the list early on.

So grab a pile of napkins in your colour of choice and tap on our step-by-step tutorial here

Looking for more content like this? Check out our Wedding DIYs playlist here and our Origami playlist here.

Share your creations with us over on Instagram by tagging us @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see what you’ve been making.

— Rebecca at Bride Society

Worth It or Not Worth It?

Where to splurge and where to save when it comes to planning your wedding!

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The champagne’s been drunk, the ring’s on your finger and now the wedding planning begins! Exciting times! But with the amount of inspiration and ideas in magazines, Pinterest and Instagram (to name but a few) it can be overwhelming deciding what you should spend your wedding budget and time on. What are the things that are must-haves and must dos and what you can leave on the reject pile.

First up, we’d recommend sitting down with your other half and working out your priorities for the non-negotiables. And don’t forget the bits you actually need to be legally married! Then comes the decisions for those extra, ‘nice to have’ bits you might want to include for either yourselves or your guests.

For this week’s video, we’re reflecting on our own experiences and sharing what we think are the ‘worth it’ items or aspects of wedding that weren’t ‘worth it’ for us (spoiler – wedding hashtags).

BUT big disclaimer, these are just our personal opinions, everyone has different priorities so what may not have been worth it for us, may be completely worth it for you and your guests!

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Is there anything you’re planning to completely forget about as you don’t think it’ll be missed? Or do you disagree with any of our choices? Let us know in the comments below, or over on Instagram.

-Bride Society

It’s Been a Process!

What We Made for Our Own Weddings!

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For the first time Laura & I (Rebecca) are bringing you behind-the-scenes access to our own weddings!  We’ve shown you how to make A LOT of different things for your weddings on our channel over the last 4+ years…if you’ve ever found yourself wondering what we actually made for our own weddings, well, now we’re telling you!  In today’s YouTube video we’re talking you through most of what we DIY’d for our own weddings – or at least what we could remember, it’s been a while for both of us at this point! 

As you might imagine our own weddings have been a big source of inspiration when it’s come to content for our channel, so for your viewing convenience we’ve included links to all the DIYs we mentioned in the description box underneath this week’s video over on YouTube.

Now for all the disclaimers!  Unlike Laura who has always been a crafting master, I really only began my crafting journey whilst wedding planning.  In all honesty I didn’t used to ‘get it’, the idea of walking around Hobbycraft would have been my equivalent of watching paint dry and seeing a homemade card would make me cringe.  My crafting days had basically been left behind with fingerprint paintings back in Primary School.  But all that said, when it came to my wedding, I wanted to be hands-on and I was on a modest budget, so I began the process of blowing that thick layer of dust off the creative side of my brain.

I think Laura would agree that even when we started Bride Society, the DIY based videos on our channel were much more her department for a while and I sat much more comfortably in the planning advice side of things.  As the years have passed, my craft equipment and tools have grown significantly and so has my creativity, including going all-in by purchasing a Cricut Maker…yes, Hobbycraft is now my idea of a good time (not an ad, I’m just obsessed!) and my home office looks more like a craft station than anything else.  Believe me, this could not have been the predicted outcome of me aged 18 walking out into the world!  All this to say, please don’t judge my DIYs in this video too harshly, it was all done in Rebecca-the-crafting-early-days, with not much more than a pair of scissors and a printer!

So, if you’re a crafting-novice and thinking about crafting your way through your wedding, please feel reassured you can do it (especially with the help of our videos), but unlike me, please don’t wait until AFTER your wedding to buy the craft tools…seriously, even if it’s just a craft knife!  Life would have been sooooo much easier!

Enjoy the peek into our weddings!  We’d love to see what you’ve been DIY’ing for your weddings so far, tag us in your photos over on Instagram!

— Rebecca at Bride Society x

Move Over Easter Bunny

How to Make Air Dry Clay Easter Egg Decorations

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As much as we’re fans of mini eggs and allllllll the Easter chocolate, we do concede that you might not want to go full on Easter themed if you’re having your wedding around that time. Subtle nods to the season, may be more your thing.

That’s where our dried flower, air dry clay hanging ornaments come in! We couldn’t resist using the classic Easter egg shape (however you can create any shape you like with a template or cookie cutter) but gave our ornaments a more rustic/natural feel with how we decorated them. Of course we’re big fans of combining favours and place settings where we can, to save some of that precious budget, so we used alphabet stamps to add guests’ names. Et voilà, personalised wedding favours FTW!

Dried flowers, or wheat in our case, created the beautiful imprints in the soft clay. These can be highlighted once the clay has dried to add a splash of colour – or just keep them au naturale!

But our hanging decorations are just to give you an idea, you can go wild with your decoration! Use anything and everything to create your imprinted patterns, and if you’re fans of bright colours, use paint (suitable to use on ceramic) to jazz up your ornaments. We’d love to see what you come up with!

You will need:

  • Air dry clay
  • Rolling pin
  • Cookie cutter or template and knife
  • Stamps/Dried Flowers for decoration
  • Paint/Pens to add details after the decorations have dried
  • Clear Acrylic Spray Paint
  • Twine/Ribbon to use for hanging

Giving this Easter DIY a go? Show us how you got on and tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see!

-Bride Society

Bring On The Unicorns!

Spring-Easter Wedding Favourites

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Whilst every winter is feeling longer than the last, when Spring finally starts to show a tiny glimmer of peeking through the ground, the whole of the nation suddenly feels more hopeful and breathes a collective sigh of relief that, yes, more daylight is coming! This happens year in year out and yet it always feels as if it will be dark by 4pm forever, the idea of feeling motivated to start any task after 6pm (at best) seems like that of a possessed person and the idea of being able to simply step outside the front door without the military operation that is layering up for the Great British Weather is basically like seeing a unicorn. But, eventually, come it does, an excitement builds inside when the alarm clock sounds, you peer through your bleary eyes to find the sun has finally begun to rise before you…then when you FINALLY get to return home after a long day of sitting in a room, potentially with no windows, and you realise there is still a hint of daylight? Well! Stop right there, it’s time to throw a party (even if only a mini one for a party of one whilst you dance like Chandler in your mind!)!

Spring gives us all the feels for very good reason and starting the freshest & most hopeful of seasons off with a celebration like a wedding seems the perfect idea to us.  Spring / Easter-time brings with it an array of inspiration to cast its influences over your big day.  Nods to a theme laced subtly throughout your day is always the key to getting any wedding theme right, so in this week’s video we have rounded up some of our favourite ideas, along with some of our own previous tutorials, to inspire your spring / Easter wedding. 

Check out our Pinterest board that supports this video here, you’ll find all the images featured in our video so you can Pin your favourites to your own boards.  All Bride Society DIY videos mentioned in this video can be found via the links in the video description box over on YouTube…Tip: add them to your ‘save for later’ playlist so you can easily find them when you’re ready to start on your DIY projects!

What’s your favourite thing about spring? Comment below!  Can you tell we’re SO ready for it over here at BSoc?!

Using any of the inspiration in today’s video for your wedding?  Tag us in your photos over on Instagram, we’d love to feel your Spring-Easter vibes!

— Bride Society

Easy Easter Bunny Favour Bags

How to Make Easter Wedding Favour Bags

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A roll of brown paper, a glue stick, some ribbon and a pompom, oh and not forgetting the Easter treats! That’s all it takes to make these cute Easter Bunny favour bags. Perfect for kids’ wedding favours, but let’s face it, the grown ups would be more than happy if they found these at their place setting too!

The options are almost endless with what you can fill your treat bags with. We went classic with mini eggs (is it even Easter if you don’t have mini eggs?!), but you can tailor it to your specific guests and budget.

You can make these favour bags any size you like, but for our video we cut a piece of brown paper approximately 21cm x 26cm. This created a bag roughly 9cm wide and 22cm tall. Personalise with ribbon and even add your guests’ names to create place settings and favours all in one.

Giving this Easter DIY a go? Show us how you got on and tag us in your photos over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to see!

-Bride Society

Critters Exposed!

Hidden Wedding Costs

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When planning a wedding it can quickly feel like you’re paying out hand over fist quicker than you can blink. Much like booking a holiday or moving house, some things in life, no matter how desirable the ultimate thing is, are simply littered with unexpected costs.

It is of course still possible to be frugal, we don’t mean to panic you…there will always be costs but it can be done!  Or indeed be as extravagant as you fancy!  But at the end of the day, none of us like being caught out by extra hidden expenses we didn’t account for.  In fact it’s such a problem that wedding planners often suggest allocating around 10% of your overall budget in anticipation of dealing with them!

A key component to frugality, or simply spending smart, is being aware of where those sneaky costs are lurking and we’re here to expose the pesky things!  Bring on the serenity of knowing you can plough on with your wedding planning without fear of any critters biting you on the butt when you’re not looking!

We hope you find this helpful! Have you encountered any other costs you weren’t expecting? Share them in the comments over on YouTube to help out the rest of our bridal community!

Looking for more content from us?  Check out our Instagram and Pinterest!

–Bride Society

Hobbycraft Wedding Range 2022

What’s New in Hobbycraft for 2022 Weddings | Hobbycraft, Ginger Ray, Hootyballoo Haul

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It’s been a while, but when we ask over on Instagram, one of the most highly requested video ideas are hauls! So, we’re back with a look at some actual new products from the High Street! Our channel is full of DIY ideas for DIY couples so it’s no surprise we’re big fans of Hobbycraft. Both for the range of items available and the ease of picking them up.

We went for a browse and picked up a selection of the items available we thought would be perfect for creating those extra special touches for your wedding. We bought items from the Hobbycraft own brand as well as Ginger Ray, Hootyballoo and more.

Buying any of these products?  We’d love to see!  Share your photos with us over on Instagram @bridesociety_uk.

Items mentioned:

NB. All views and opinions expressed in this video are that held by Bride Society and are in no way affiliated with Hobbycraft. All pricing and other information provided in relation to the products mentioned were correct at the time of filming to the best of our knowledge.

Video request? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll do what we can to make it happen!

-Bride Society

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

Debunking Wedding Lies & Myths

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We’ve all heard them, “don’t say ‘wedding’ it doubles the cost”, or, “you’ll get a feeling when you find ‘THE dress’ [wedding dress]” …there are countless lies, myths and outright porkies that people will say to you whilst you’re wedding planning.  So many of them only seem to serve to create stress and worry, so having been through the entire process of planning weddings from start to finish ourselves, we are here to debunk and tell it to you straight. 

…And guess what, neither of us got ‘the feeling’ dress shopping…great if you do, but you’re not alone if you don’t, there’s nothing wrong with you!

Walk this way to your stress relief…

Got any questions or video requests? Leave them in the comments below and we’ll do our best to help. Share the wedding lies you’ve been told with us over on Instagram: @bridesociety_uk, we’d love to hear what else is being said and try to help!

Looking for more content like this? Check out this playlist.

Back to Basics

Everything you need to know about getting married in England and Wales in 2022

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Back in 2018 we filmed our Wedding 101 video to give you the bare bones of what you actually NEED to be able to get legally married in England and Wales as a UK citizen. Since then there have been some changes so it was about time we filmed an update.

So put aside those colour charts and centrepiece ideas for now, we’ve got the key facts you need to know to take you from not married to married, whether you’re planning a religious ceremony, civil ceremony or civil partnership.

For the most current and accurate information, please visit the Government website: https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships

Unsure where you should give notice? Find your Register Office: https://www.gov.uk/register-offices

N.B. Please note that whilst all the information in this video is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of filming and on the date the video was launched, UK law in constantly evolving and for the most up to date information you should consult the government website here.

-Bride Society