Bridesmaid Gift Scarf: How to Choose, Personalize and Order Silk
Angel LeQuick answer: A silk scarf makes a strong bridesmaid gift because each woman can wear it on the wedding morning and for years after. The simplest plan: one print for the whole party, a different color for each woman, and a 26 inch square ($97) for hair and neck, or a twilly ($57) for a large party. Order at least four weeks before you hand the boxes out.
Picture the hotel suite two hours before the ceremony: robes on, coffee cooling on the windowsill, and five identical boxes stacked on the bed. Each lid lifts to tissue paper, and under it a square of silk in a color chosen for the woman holding it. The scarf goes into her hair before the photographer arrives.
Why a silk scarf works as a bridesmaid gift
A bridesmaid gift has two jobs. It thanks someone for months of planning, travel and fittings, and it has to suit a person whose taste may be quite different from the bride's. A printed silk square handles both. It can be worn on the day as a hair tie or a wrist knot, and afterward it moves into an ordinary wardrobe: knotted on a tote, folded into a headband for a summer weekend, tied loosely at the neck of a white shirt.
Silk also photographs well. The sheen picks up window light in the getting-ready photos, and a mulberry silk square has enough weight to fall in soft folds when it hangs from a ponytail. Two worries come up with most bridal party gifts: that the gift will end up in a drawer, and that it will look like a matching costume. Scale answers both. A small square, worn small, reads as a personal detail on the day, and it is the same size she will reach for later with jeans and a white shirt.
How to choose: one print, a color for each woman
The cleanest way to dress a bridal party in scarves is to keep the motif the same and let the colorway vary. The shared print ties the group together in photos, and the different colors let each woman wear something she likes. You choose the color for each bridesmaid from the colorways listed on the product page; scarves are not dyed to order, so build your palette from what exists.
Two prints fit weddings particularly well:
- Phoenix Dance. The phoenix was the empress's emblem in Vietnam's royal courts, and the motif reads as feminine grace, transformation and a new chapter. The colorways are soft pink, pale green and purple, which sit easily beside most bridesmaid dresses. See the Phoenix Dance silk scarves.
- Lotus Serenade. A pair of mandarin ducks under an open lotus. The pair is a wish for a long and faithful marriage, which makes it a fitting choice for the bride herself or the maid of honor, and a print the bride may enjoy explaining at the rehearsal dinner. Our guide to mandarin duck wedding gifts explains the symbol in full.
A practical tip: before settling on a color plan, open each colorway and confirm it shows enough in stock for the number you need. If one shade runs short, it is easier to adjust the plan on day one than the week before the wedding.
Which size for bridesmaids
Size decides whether the scarf gets worn again. For most bridal parties the 22 inch and 26 inch squares are the sweet spot: large enough for a headband or a neck knot, small enough to tuck into a clutch. Each one is mulberry silk, hand screen-printed in our Hanoi atelier through both faces, with edges rolled and stitched by hand. The 36 inch square suits a maid of honor who likes to wear a scarf over the hair or as a larger neck tie. Our silk scarf size guide shows each square worn.
| Size | Price | Wedding day use | Everyday use afterward |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 in (55 cm) | $75 | Wrist knot, ponytail tie, bouquet stem wrap | Bag handle, neck knot with a shirt |
| 26 in (65 cm) | $97 | Headband, hair bow, neck knot | Head scarf, tied at the neck |
| 36 in (90 cm) | $153 | Hair wrap for the getting-ready photos | Full head wrap, larger neck styles |
| Twilly | $57 | Braided into hair, tied on a clutch strap | Bag handle, wrist, hair |
The twilly is a narrow ribbon of silk and a good fit for a larger party or a junior bridesmaid. Our guide to wearing a silk twilly covers six ways to tie one.
How to personalize a bridesmaid scarf without custom printing
Personal touches come from the choices you make and the words you add. Match each colorway to the woman: the green for the friend who gardens, the purple for the sister who wears jewel tones. Then write a line for each one on a card of your own, slipped under the lid when the boxes arrive. Three sentences in your own hand, naming a moment from the friendship, will be kept long after the wedding favors are gone.
A few ideas that cost nothing and land well:
- Tie each scarf into the shape she will wear on the day before you hand it over, so the knot is already set.
- Add a note with the knot you hope she will try, for example a headband fold or a ponytail bow.
- Give the maid of honor a different print in the same color family, so she stands slightly apart in group photos.
When to order for the bridal party
Plan backward from the day you want to hand out the gifts, which is often the rehearsal dinner or the morning of the wedding. Orders leave our Hanoi atelier in 1 to 3 business days and reach the US in 9 to 15 business days after that, so allow 10 to 18 business days from order to doorstep. There is no rush shipping, so place every scarf in a single order and give yourself a cushion of at least a week beyond that window. If you want a separate box for each bridesmaid, our gift boxes and bags are sold individually from $8, so every woman gets her own lid to lift. For a wedding within three weeks, a scarf is the wrong gift to count on.
What should the groomsmen get?
If the bridal party gets silk, a silk tie for each groomsman keeps the gifts in the same family. Folk Form ties are woven jacquard in 100% mulberry silk, $142 each, in a standard 3.1 inch (8 cm) width and a slimmer 2.4 inch (6 cm) width for narrow lapels. The geometric patterns carry no symbolic meaning, which makes them easy to coordinate with a wedding palette. Sets that include cufflinks need shirts with French cuffs. Our silk tie gift guide covers color and width.
What color tie for a wedding?
Most couples pick a groomsman tie that echoes the bridesmaid palette without copying it: navy or deep red beside pastel dresses, a soft blue or gray beside jewel tones. If the groomsmen are wearing tuxedos with bow ties, a necktie becomes a gift for later rather than for the day.
Silk for the anniversaries that follow
Silk returns later in a marriage too. On the traditional US anniversary list, silk and linen mark the twelfth year, and a bride who loved her bridesmaids' scarves may be glad to receive one of her own then. Our 12th anniversary gift ideas in silk and linen collect the options, and the wider silk scarf gift guide covers every occasion in between.
Frequently asked questions
Is a silk scarf a good bridesmaid gift?
Yes. A small silk square can be worn on the wedding morning as a hair tie or wrist knot and then worn for years with everyday clothes, so it outlasts most single-use favors.
Can I order custom colors to match the bridesmaid dresses?
No, scarves come in the colorways shown on each product page. Choose one print for the group and pick the existing colorway that suits each bridesmaid or sits closest to the dress.
How far ahead should I order bridesmaid scarves?
Delivery to the US takes 10 to 18 business days from order, with no rush option. Order at least four weeks before you plan to give the gifts, and place all the scarves in one order.
What size silk scarf suits bridesmaids?
The 22 inch square at $75 and the 26 inch square at $97 suit most bridesmaids, since they work as headbands, hair bows and neck knots. A twilly at $57 suits a large party or a junior bridesmaid.
Can a scarf include a personal message?
The simplest way is a handwritten card of your own tucked into each box, with a line about a shared memory and the knot you hope she will try on the wedding morning.
How should bridesmaids care for a silk scarf?
Wash a printed silk scarf in cold water with a little shampoo or body wash, never wring it, dry it flat in the shade, and iron on the lowest silk setting while damp. Dry cleaning is the safest choice.
Should the maid of honor get a different gift?
One easy approach is to give the maid of honor the same print in a larger size, such as a 36 inch square at $153, or a different print in the same color family. She stays part of the group in photos while the gift marks her larger role.
Browse every guide in our silk scarf and tie guides.
Shop silk scarf gift sets or browse all silk scarves.
