My other main group of friends is made up of my college girlfriends:
Realistically, I could not have all of them stand up. But for some of them in particular, it just didn't seem right to have them not be recognized. What's a bride to do??
Beyond that, Mr. Llama has two sisters:
For a while, I just kind of put off thinking about it - I couldn't decide what to do, there was no obvious answer, and it all felt pretty far away (we got engaged in March of 2013, Wedding in July of 2014), so I just put it out of my mind for a bit.
I DID know for sure that my Maid of Honor was going to be one of my Culver girls - I was hers, and she's my BFF. I didn't want to ask anybody, though, until I had it all figured out it. She knew I was a little concerned about the bridal party size, and she sent me some information about "House Parties."
I had never heard of this idea. Apparently, it's a bit of a Southern thing - Jenna Bush did it a number of years back, and it's gained popularity since then.
I was instantly drawn to this idea. It allows me to have the more traditional bridal party, and the ability to include other girls who are close to me, without having a gigantor bridal party. On the other hand, it seems a little ... well ... silly. Can't I just rip the band-aid off? These girls in, these girls out, and no one other than me really cares either way.
Except I cared. It mattered to me, as silly as it sounds.
So I went with my gut. I wasn't going to leave my IWU girlfriends out of the wedding. I would have the Culver girls, Patrick's sisters, and one of my IWU girls as bridesmaids, and asked another six IWU girls to be part of my House Party.
Now I had to figure out how I was going to ask them...
Have you ever heard of a House Party? Is it really a southern thing, or is Southern Weddings just pulling my leg?