Ethical Bridesmaid Gifts
Throughout the entire wedding planning process I tried my best to remain intentional with the decisions and purchases we made to ensure those decisions aligned to what was important to Matt and I. As most brides do, I really wanted to put together something special for my closest friends that were part of our Wedding Day (we all can relate to how much of an ask it is to be a bridesmaid, right?!). I wanted to make sure that the gift to my ladies’ was not only a nice thank you, but also something that was in line with what I believe in, making sure it was full of ethically made and conscious goodies!
Now that I have given my lovely ladies their ethically made bridesmaid gifts, I can finally share what all I included in them with you guys!!
Photo Credit Cynthia Rose Photography
I decided to go with somewhat of a slumber themed box with ethically made pajamas, a bamboo silk pillowcase, a personalized champagne flute and a beaded bracelet for a little added fun all from companies whose mission and values I find admirable and wanted to support.
If you have read much at all on my blog you know that Amour Vert is a favorite of mine! They were one of the first ethically produced and sustainable brands that I found and felt really fit with my everyday style. Their styles are very classic and are ethically made from sustainable fabrics. I choose to do their Joline V-Neck Slub Tee in Navy blue that paired nicely with the shorts I chose. It is super soft, like one of your favorite old nightshirts, perfect for lounging but also versatile enough to be all around great basic piece you pair with jeans or layer under a jacket. These run pretty true to size and looked great on the girls! They have a ton of colors in this style making it easy to coordinate for any color scheme you are trying to pull together. I love that the options are endless with this tee, and it can be worn for many different uses after my wedding day.
Sudara
Kala Printed Shorts
I paired the tee with the Kala printed short from Sudara, I thought this print was super cute and the shorts are very feminine and comfortable! I love how they turned out, they looked great in photos and several of the girls have told me how they have enjoyed having them to lounge around in since the wedding. Sudara is a Certified b-corp with a great mission, every Sudara purchase supports living wage employment and skills training for women in India who are at high risk or survivors of sex trafficking. They offer a variety of printed pajamas, robes and loungewear and since the wedding have released some fun new prints!
Also wanted to note that their customer service was amazing to work with, since companies like Sudara aren’t marketed as bridesmaid gifts they may not always have the inventory on hand to be able to fulfill a bigger order with a variety of sizes. That was the case with the blue kala short that I had selected but I emailed their customer service who promptly responded with the date they were expecting to be back in stock in all of the sizes I needed and even reserved them in their system for me and emailed back once they had everything for me to place the order.
Dignity Collective
Pillow Case & Bracelets
Dignity Collective is ethically-manufactured clothing and housewares line and the company was founded by my best friend (also one of my bridesmaids)! They are working to empower women in Nepal and to prevent the exploitation and trafficking of women by providing viable economic opportunity in a dignified working environment. Their first product is a Bamboo satin pillowcase that is not only handmade from natural materials but is also great for hair and skin care. Since trying them out a couple of years ago these have become our standard pillowcases that are very soft, help smooth your hair while sleeping and empower women in Nepal. Dignity Collective has also started doing these fun beaded bracelets also handmade in Nepal.
She Said Yasa
Champagne Flutes
She Said Yasa is an Etsy shop founded by a sorority sister of mine with adorable wedding items. I did the plastic champagne flutes with a gold script text for each of the bridesmaids as well as our mom’s and my sister-in-law. These were great for getting ready the morning of the wedding. She also offers glass and looking back if I were doing it again probably would have done the glass. But regardless they served the purpose and were a fun addition to the gift!
The time spent getting ready for our Wedding Day with these beautiful ladies is something I will always cherish and I am so grateful for Cynthia Rose Photography and the wonderful images she captured
Other Conscious Bridesmaid Gift Ideas:
Here are a few other bridesmaid gift ideas that I considered or have seen others do
Thom Kelly’s summer striped button downs are adorable (I’ve lived in mine this summer) and would be a great piece for your friends to have after the wedding. Obviously a little pricier than some other options so probably wouldn’t do other gifts in addition to that but would look great and photos and is a really nice gift. And while the summer stripe is my personal favorite especially for a spring wedding, the plaids could be really cute for a fall wedding in the mountains!
Purchasing the bridesmaid dress or covering the cost for them to have their hair and/or makeup done. Let’s be real being in a wedding is expensive, between travel, hotels, dresses, gifts and hair & makeup it adds up super quick! If you aren’t loving the idea of putting together gifts trust me your girls will appreciate you footing some of the costs for them instead!
I also thought this article from Ethical Weddings had some other really good ideas for ethical bridesmaid gifts. Jewelry, personalized linens and waste reducing products are all fun ideas that can easily be done ethically!
All photo credit to Cynthia Rose Photography