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I'm Alicia, your effervescent Peter Pan, helping you add a sense of color to your home or shop.
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In early 2002, I began prepping for a two-week summer backpacking venture to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of New Mexico. My mom brought me to EMS to stock up on the essentials: a nesting camp cookware kit; wool hiking socks; hiking boots; waterproof pants that unzipped into shorts; and a pocketknife just in case I had to pull a 127 hours. I borrowed the backpack from my younger brother (which ended up being way too small for my 5’10” frame), but that didn’t stop me from browsing the selection in the store.
If you’re thinking – cool story, bro – there’s a point to this story, I swear.
These days, one could go into any outdoor supply store and probably come away with a moisture-wicking shirt featuring a hand lettered quote of some sort, supportive hiking boots in their favorite shade of purple, and wool hiking socks in a rainbow of colors. Meaning somewhere along the way, companies realized that it’s totally okay to want to be both rugged and feminine, and that practical items can still be, for lack of a better term, pretty.
Because frankly, if I was stuck having to cut my own arm off, I sure as hell would rather do it with a pink Swiss Army Knife.
Let’s bring this back to weddings now, because that’s really why you’re here.
As a bride or groom in the middle of planning your wedding, one of things you’ve probably come across is the idea of welcome gifts. Some couples give them to all of their guests, while others will arrange for the hotel to give them to out of town guests upon check-in. Typically, welcome gifts include the sort of goodies your guests could enjoy in their hotel room – bottled water, a bag of cookies, breath mints – and are tossed in a paper gift bag. I’ve been an out of town wedding guest, and have found welcome gifts to be thoughtful and sometimes even useful (an eye mask for sleeping!).
But as we’ve just discussed, practical doesn’t have to mean bland and boring. It’s possible to greet your guests with welcome gifts that will rock their freaking socks off! The lovely Jamie over at Marigold & Grey specializes in just that. She works with brides to design a completely personalized welcome gift, then assembles them in a gorgeous way, and ships them off to the couple just before the wedding. If you love thoughtful gifts but have zero time to actually do it yourself, this is a perfect option.
Just yesterday, Jamie launched a new line of pre-designed welcome gifts for those couples who want to make the process even easier! Each are themed for a specific part of the DC Metro area. Take a peek at what’s inside “Sweet Virginia” and “The Washingtonian”:
And because Jamie believes that a simple gift can look like so much more with just the right packaging, here’s a look at what your guests will first see:
Wouldn’t you just be delighted to receive a welcome gift like these?! (And hey, if you’re a bridesmaid, I totally won’t judge you for sharing this post with the bride as a little hint hint.)
Oh, we’re not done yet. I’m still swooning over these gorgeous bridemaid gift boxes featuring bath salts, nail polish, a soy candle, gummy bears, and beautifully packaged tech wipes. Practical and pretty.
You can’t forget your flower girl! Wouldn’t this make the sweetest gift for the youngest member of your bridal party?
Finally, I present to you the most lovely bridal gift crates which have made me seriously consider getting re-married (to my husband, of course) just so I can be a bride again. Because LOOK HOW PRETTY!
You can see more pre-designed welcome gifts as well as get loads of information about custom-designed wedding gifts over at Marigold & Grey.
Before I end this post, I want to fill y’all in on an exciting detail, which is that Jamie does more than just wedding gifts. She also works with wedding vendors and other businesses to create charming client welcome gifts… so you know, just sayin’. Stay tuned. 😉
Marigold & Grey product photos by Abby Jiu.
I've pulled together my favorite and most-used art supplies + tools to make the process easy for you!
I make whimsical art for color-lovers and California dreamers. I'm based in Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. where there are most decidedly no palm trees in sight.