Choosing & Asking Attendants

So right after we got engaged, I decided to wait a little while to ask attendants to be in my wedding for two reasons: first, I wanted to talk it over with Ryan, make the decision together, and be sure about my choices.  Second, I wanted to ask as many friends as I could in person.

We decided on five groomsmen, five bridesmaids, best man and maid of honor, and two ushers.

There were a few people I knew I could ask right away.  I had asked Mary to be my maid of honor, let's see... When I left for college seven years ago?  So I am pretty sure she was expecting that.  We also wanted Katie (my other younger sister) to be a bridesmaid, and my brother to be a groomsman.  Seeing all of them at Christmas and being able to ask and celebrate together in person was awesome, as I do not see my family very often!  (Especially Mike!)

I also had two boys to ask to be ushers, which some may find strange but worked out perfectly.  There are two guys in the world that have been extremely supportive and accepting of me, and have seen me through everything.  I could not imagine my wedding day without honoring those friendships, and I did not feel right asking Ryan to have them as groomsmen- they're my friends!  But I also was somewhat tied to the tradition of having girls on one side and guys on the other.

So asking those two to be ushers was perfect to me.  One is my high school best friend, and the other is one of my best friends from college, who is also (drama drama) an ex.  But thus far, I am nothing but happy with my decision.  And yes, for those who this scandalizes- Ryan and I decided together and he is very much in favor of it.  He has a long history of being very comfortable that I am close with an ex.  Thank GOD for that!

To honor the friend who got me through my two years without family and friends after moving to Atlanta, I bought Jess lunch after she helped me wedding dress shop for the first time and asked her to be in the wedding.  It was so nice to do it one and one and let her know how much she has helped me get through my move.

With three more girls left to ask, I made invitations to get coffee over our college Homecoming weekend in Florida.  I wanted to make cute "Will you be my bridesmaid" cards, but I ran out of time.  So I gave out flowers instead!

Abbs, D, me, and Nicole

So after getting affirmative answers from everyone, I still felt badly for not making cards to let everyone know how much their friendships mean to me.  So I made "Thanks for agreeing to put up with me and be in the wedding" cards!  I found cute/funny pictures to put on the back, and made a pull down sappy letter to put on the front.

Katie, Mar and I a few years back wearing matching jammies, lol

(Instructions were included to pull down and find the entire letter of thanks)

Being the sap I am, doing this made me tear up and feel super thankful to have such great people in my life.  It was also fun to find old pictures: one totally hysterical one of Drew, David, and I back when we visited Drew at UF during college, one of all three of my Stetson girls and myself during our senior year, the childhood one of Mary, Katie, and I, and then one of Jess and I.  I can't wait to have all of these people together in one place!

I had hoped to find the money to send singing telegrams to ask my attendants to be in the wedding, but that didn't pan out.  Anyone get extremely creative when asking their closest friends to be in their wedding?