SuperBridesmaid becomes....SUPERBRIDE!

This post is a little bit delayed, but I figured that's it never too late to share good news! On Friday, November 25th- my boyfriend J popped question, and asked me to marry to him!

After a long day of shopping on Black Friday with my mom and sister, I walked in to my apartment ready to crash. J told me he got me a present, and to take a look at the coffee table. I saw a big unwrapped box, sat on the couch and began to open it. It was a snow globe! I collect them, so he knows I love receiving them. This one had a picture frame inside the globe, and while one side had a picture of us, the other side said, "Michelle, Will You Marry Me?" I was completely surprised, just the way he wanted it to be. I started crying, looked up and he was down on one knee, with the most beautiful ring that he picked out himself. He turned on the TV and there were pictures of us, our song was playing, and once again it said "Michelle, Will You Marry Me?" It may sound a bit cheesy to you, but everything was perfect and so "us".

Later that night we celebrated with our families with a champagne toast and dinner. The next night my sister organized a celebration with all of our friends for engagement drinks.

I hope you don't mind that if for the next year, some posts actually pertain to my own wedding planning. But I'll make sure to also include some of the great ideas that I know my superbridesmaids are sure to have. They started off my engagement year exceeding my expectations with fabulous OMG! You Just Got Engaged Gifts, and I wanted to share them with all of my readers here.

A magazine, ring dish & wedding cake notepad- all wrapped up in a gift that looked like a wedding cake!A scrapbook page to kickoff our wedding scrapbook

A 2012 calendar filled with pictures of us to document all of the momentous occasions in our wedding year. I personally love the picture on my birthday!

Quintessential planning magazines & personalized wedding organizers. Everything a girl needs to start planning!

Magazines & "Say Yes to The Dress" book from Mom & Dad, including a poem inside!

A customized LOVEOPOLY board with our pictures. All of the "properties" pertain to us and our relationship...so cute! Can't decide if we want to play it or frame it!

Personalized M&Ms in our wedding colors with our names and picture!

Personalized Notebooks to keep all of my planning notes in. So handy to keep with me!

By the way, just wanted to share that as I approach double digits (this will be my tenth wedding that I'm in!), it's only appropriate that the wedding is my own!

Happy New Year, Happy Bridesmaiding, and Happy Brideing! (my new verb for wedding planning)

Personal Wedding Planners

As I mentioned early on, before I buy my brides official engagement gifts off their registry, I love to present them with an "OMG! You just got engaged!!!!" gift. My go to standard is a Martha Stewart wedding planner customized with the bride & groom's name. I like this planner because it's actually a binder so you can take things in and out, and add more folders or pages to the binder. Plus, it's one of the few out there that has a blank cover for me to be able to personalize.

It all started when Bride #2 got engaged, because in college, she never used notebooks, she always loved binders. So this gift was part useful but also a little bit of an inside joke. However, she found it so helpful that I've given it many times since.

Pictured here is what I gave to Work Bride #2 when she got engaged. Nope, I'm not a BM, but both Work Bride #1 and I are so close with her that we wanted to get her a little something. You'll notice we also included a Moleskine pocket journal. Work Bride #1 suggested this, as she found it so useful in her planning. It's small enough for any bride to keep with her at all times, so whenever she thinks of something for her to do list, or a great song to play at the reception, etc, she can jot it down in her special wedding notebook. Purple is Work Bride #2's favorite color and the color of her wedding, but since it was unavailable, we got pink to keep it bridal.

What do you think? Have you ever given or received any favorite "OMG! You just got engaged!!!!" gifts? Happy Bridesmaiding!

"OMG You Just Got Engaged!!!!" Gifts

In addition to an engagement gift (typically something off the registry purchased a few weeks after the actual engagement), I like to buy my brides an "OMG! You just got engaged!! (insert girlie squeal)" Gift. This is a little something special for just the bride (not the couple) to get her excited about her year ahead. I will try to have the gift ready in my apartment if I know the engagement is coming soon, but sometimes if you are caught off guard, you need to just haul a** to the nearest store and pick one up! Some of my favorite gifts to give include:

• Bedazzled "Bride" tank top
• A ring dish (I made a personalized one at one of those paint your own pottery places)
• White "bride" or "I Do" underwear/thong
• Bridal magazines
• Ring/jewelry cleaner so she can keep that rock sparkling!
• A gift certificate for a manicure or better yet- take her to get one so you can spend some QT together
• Wedding planning book (I usually go with this Martha Stewart book, because I personalize the cover with the bride and groom's names. I also like that it's a binder, so you can put things in or take them out)

If you are good friends with the groom, he shouldn't feel left out! There are some gifts you can get him too! Some examples are:

• A groom's guide to the wedding book
• A gag t-shirt
• Groom baseball hat

Let me know if you have any other great ideas to share.

Happy Bridesmaiding!