Recently a friend of mine sent out a tweet asking for gift ideas for her bridesmaids in which she added "…and don't say jewelry." Which got me to thinking, what are some good bridal party gifts for the ladies that aren't jewelry. Even a check of the OBB archives brought up mostly jewelry suggestions, so let's fix this. Here is a jewelry-free bridesmaid gift guide.

1. Flasks: This was the winning decision generated from my friends Twitter inquiry. Someone suggested "monogrammed flasks! Boys get them, why shouldn't the girls?!" I like this hot pink one that can be engraved. But yet another friend of mine pointed me in the direction of these funky flasks from Pylones USA which are SUPER unique.

2. Stationery: I know, I know, kinda boring, but at the same time, super useful. And you can find tons of sources for unique stationery pretty much anywhere, and it's not hard to make yourself.

3. Fascinators and hair accessories: They can wear them in wedding as well as a every day life. Etsy has an incredible selection of 'em. Or the DIY inclined make them themselves using our tutorial.

4. Custom pottery: In our last post about bridesmaid gifts a couple of commenters mentioned "text bowls" from Esty seller Paloma's Nest. At $22 each, it's a cute and affordable way to tell your girls that you love them. Plus it gives them a place to put all the baubles that you won't be buying for them.

5. The gift of adventure: What about something like surf lessons or take the girls zip-lining. This idea would be perfect for a destination wedding — find something to do unique to the area and take your gang on a group trip. Not ones for adventure? Do a spa day or something — mani-pedies, or massages for all! Your friend will have fun and it's great for group bonding.

Continue reading "13 jewelry-free bridesmaid gift ideas" →

We're wrapping up our "best of" the new Turtle Love Committee jewelry collections with two of my personal favorite collections…

TLC has an awesome new designer, Chaya Caron – Chaya's blossom series is made from recycled silver, and there are a variety of sizes of pendants, two styles of earrings, and a ring. Would these not be great to wear as your "something new recycled" on your wedding day — hell — to wear on any day really!

Also, have you seen their dinosaurs? Yes, dinosaurs! These bad boys would make really unique gifts for your bridal party AND for your favorite Offbeat Bride Managing Editor as well. (My fav is the brontosaurus, just FYI.)

So there ya go, it's been fun giving you the run down of our favorite of TLC's new jewelry. So now it's your turn to go check out their site and find your favorite pieces.

We're back with another new jewelry feature from Turtle Love Committee where we feature some of our favorite from their new lines of necklaces and earrings. Again, I feel the need to point out that we love them because they focus on jewelry that’s eco-conscious and made by independent artisans. Really, these people are good eggs — you can read about the people and the TLC philosophy and see for yourself.

Offbeat Discount: OBB readers that subscribe to the TLC mailing list will get a 20% off coupon, good through 12/20.

Like the miniature lithographs necklaces that we featured a little while back, these lovebirds necklaces are made by a husband-and-wife team in their home studio using at least 50% recycled silver. And the sweet thing about these babies is that they can worn all symbolic-like to represent you as a couple!

Or, added bonus, they can also represent family ties… they come in single parent or a two-parent team. A perfect gift option for the new moms or step-children in your life as you build your own nest through marriage.

Go check it out, lovebirds!

You know Turtle Love Committee from our past introductions. We LURVE that they specialize in affordable and eco-friendly non-diamond engagement rings and wedding bands. But now there’s even more reason to lurve them… TLC now has a whole slew of really unique necklaces and earrings. We'll be featuring our favesies from their new jewelry lines that would make perfect (and AFFORDABLE!) wedding party gifts.

Check these beautiful and moody silver lithograph pendants. Each piece is hand-inked and hand cranked on an antique printing press and then strung on super subtle gray cord. They're like cool tiny art pieces!

They also do double duty of conveying complicated sentiments without being cheese-tastic. Like, the house and the nest are perfect for celebrating, well, housing and nesting. My personal favorites, the bridge and the railroad tracks are a great way to symbolize the journey and connections that weddings have a crazy way of bringing about. And the adorable little girl on the swing just makes me smile all goofy-like.

Head over to Turtle Love Committee get your own goofy-like smile going.

Made from upcycled materials like Scrabble tiles and bottle caps, these wedding-themed pendants from Recycled Treasures are adorable and obviously unique wedding party gifts.

Ooh, think about how perfect one of the Scrabble tile pendants would be for a bride to wear at her gamer geek wedding!

And budget brides, take heart: at $6 per pendant, you can actually afford to buy wedding party gifts that are handmade and personal.

Recycled Treasures also does custom orders (aside from bridal party position, name, or initial) — if you can scheme it, Recycled Treasures can make it. So head over to Etsy and start dreaming up something fun for your wedding party!