Top Seven Best Holiday Bridesmaid Bonding Activities

It’s getting chilly outside but that can’t stop you from getting out with your girls! If you want your bridesmaids to bond this winter leading up to the big day, we’ve got seven awesome ways for you all to bond. You can turn any of these into one of your bachelorette party, or even a pre-bachelorette party. Get out, have fun, and stay warm!

Secret Santa

A cute, sweet way for you to bond with your bridesmaids is to get everyone together and have a secret santa party. Arrange secret santas a week or two before your party, and get everyone together. You can theme it to add to the mystery, like as a masquerade party where secret santas are super secret! You’ll all have to get to know each other while you’re shopping for each other, and it’s a great excuse to hang out and bond with a low level of bridal talk.

Volunteer Together

‘Tis the season for giving- both for loved ones and for those who need it. Get together as a group and do some serious good. If you’re all crafty or Pinterest fanatics, have a baking or cooking party and donate food to a local shelter or pass food out to those who need it. If you’re more hands on, volunteer at a soup kitchen. If you’re all mallrats, go out and pick up blankets, jackets, winter gear, anything at all and donate them to those who need it. It’s such a great way to give back and get close together. Plus, you can brag on how your bridal party gave back during your big day!

Santa Crawl

Every big city nowadays has a santa crawl around the holidays, and it’s so amazing! A ton of people dress up as Santas, elves, and all sorts of fun holiday characters and go place to place. It’s totally fun and a great way to experience fun new places with your girls. You can all dress up as a themed group and have a great time! Team bridesmaids is always the best team to be on- especially if they’re sporting some holiday cheer.

Gingerbread Bake-Off

Want to stay in for the night? Have a little competition with a fun holiday classic. There are gingerbread house kits that can be as low as around $5 for a whole box, or you can bake everything fresh yourself (but that’s more of an advanced move). Get your girls together, put out some icing and candy, and see who can build the best gingerbread house. Trader Joe’s has a great gingerbread house kit that’s under $10 and actually is super yummy. You can hashtag your whole night and see which of your bridesmaids is the most creative.

Ice Skating

Remember all those birthdays in the fourth grade you got invited to at ice rinks? Yeah, it’s still fun to go ice skating! Some places even have discount nights during the week when it’s a little slower, and if you go on a school night it can be less crowded. If you have a more athletic group of bridesmaids, this could be a really fun way to bond and get into the holiday spirit. There’s a whole bunch of outdoor ice rinks popping up this season in major malls and shopping areas and they’re way more fun than they look.

Tree Decorating Party

Get together at someone’s house and everyone needs to bring different ornaments to decorate a bridesmaids-only tree. You can sit around in footy pajamas, sew popcorn together, throw tinsel up in the air, and hang your ornaments with care. If you’re able to keep it to just bridesmaids so it can be your ‘family’ tree. Fake trees are actually fairly inexpensive (under $50 for some serious tree height!) and are a great addition to any house to make everything look more festive.

Hot Cocoa Night

Stay home and make a whole ton of hot cocoa and have fun stuff to go along with it. You can add things like raspberry, pirouettes, gingerbread cookies, all sorts of fun stuff to your hot cocoa. Have everyone make a different flavor and have fun with it! Take pictures, compare recipes, and see who can make the best original hot cocoa. If you find a recipe you all really love, write it down and maybe save it for your next winter party! Or if it’s really good- your wedding!

 

Five Ways to Bond with Your Father-In-Law

In honor of Father’s Day coming up this weekend, we’ve got our focus on some of our favorite guys- our dads! It can be intimidating when your family gets bigger- especially if you’re getting a whole new set of parents as in-laws. We want to help you get along with your new family, and that can start with some good old fashioned bonding. We’ve got tips on how to bond with your new father-in-law that’ll make you the new family favorite.

Figure Out His Favorites

One of the best ways to learn more about a person is to find out what they love and why they love it. Ask him what his favorite book is, then read it. While you’re reading think about the themes and characters. After you’ve read it, bring it up by mentioning that you checked out that book on his recommendation. You’ll be able to talk about what you both liked and may have not liked about it. Plus, it can be humbling for someone to have their recommendations taken seriously. You’ll score some points!

Ask Questions

Next time you’re both at family functions, ask open ended questions that you would be able to answer as well. Try to avoid yes or no questions, or anything that could end a conversation abruptly (ex., how was traffic/weather/your dinner can be conversation killers). Try to find out more about his life with questions about what his favorite things are, where his dream vacation spot is, what his pets growing up were like. Give him the chance to tell a story and he’ll feel closer to you.

Show Off in the Kitchen

Everyone has their signature dish- you should be proud of yours! If you’re doing a family potluck, or even just all getting together for some grub, be ready to cook. As the old saying goes- the best way to get to someone’s heart is through their stomach! If your cooking skills are limited, don’t let that stop you. Try new things and be willing to do some taste testing.

Be Grateful

When he helps out, when he sends gifts, when he does anything for you, always be grateful. It can be difficult for some people to let in a new member of the family, and being friendly and grateful will go far. If he gets any gifts, helps pay for anything, or goes out of his way be sure to thank him.

Take Pictures

This one goes past posting pictures on instagram with the caption #HappyFamily. Involve the in-laws in group pictures and share the shots later. Pictures and happy images can go a long way- it’ll help you both remind each other of the great times you’ve shared! You’ll be able to look back in a few years and wonder how you ever weren’t close with the in-laws.

 

Five Ways to Bond With Other Bridesmaids

Yay for wedding parties! Now that you’re officially a bridesmaid, it’s time to get excited for the big day. Just remember, there’s more people involved than just the bride- you’re part of a whole party of bridesmaids (they don’t call it a bridal party for nothing!). You all need to be able to work together to help throw the best party ever. If you aren’t close with the other bridesmaids, or if you don’t know they just yet, you’re in luck! We’ve got some awesome ideas on how to bond with the bridal party and make this wedding one of the best times of your life. Who knows, you might bond well enough to have them be bridesmaids at your wedding too!

Start Talking

Find the other bridesmaids on facebook and shoot them a message. Say something quick and friendly mentioning that you’ll both be bridesmaids. You can even do a group message with all the bridesmaids so the whole group can get to know each other. Start by talking about how excited you are for the wedding, or how happy you are for the bride. It’s common ground for everyone!

Start Slow

Starting new friendships is similar to starting a new relationship. Sometimes it’s good to just start with coffee before you dive in for dinner! Do a quick after-work happy hour or some Saturday morning coffee to chat and discuss the wedding. Have some sort of agenda so you don’t all get there and not say anything. You can use this day to start initial brainstorming for the bachelorette party.

Get Moving

Another great activity for bridesmaids to do to bond is working out. It can be something like bikram yoga or even a crossfit bootcamp. Getting your blood flowing is a surefire way to get bonding. If you can find a groupon, or even a free class to crash invite the bridesmaids! Weddings tend to make people more aware of being fit, so it’s the perfect chance. Towards the beginning of the month, gyms and studios tend to do more free classes so do some research and start stretching.

Do Test Runs

As it gets closer to the wedding, arrange for a makeup test run. Call up a makeup counter and let them know you’re coming in ahead of time. The  bride will most likely have her own makeup artist reserved for the day, but you should all be covered too! Go out and ask for a makeup artist to give you tips and tricks and teach you how to do your wedding look. You’ll all be able to help each other and learn a few awesome makeup tips while you’re at it!

Plan Surprises

A long-standing tradition is for the bridal party to decorate the honeymoon suite, or whatever room the bride and groom will be sleeping in right after the wedding. Go all out and plan this in advance. Do balloons, rosepetals, silly pictures, maybe even some snacks or champagne. You’ll all get to be creative and work on a fun project together to surprise the bride.