urban flip flops: Will You Be My Bridesmaids?

It had been almost a year since we got engaged and I still had not decided on my wedding party. I had thought we would get engaged and I would ask all of my bridesmaids the week after, nope. Deciding on my bridesmaids was one of the hardest decisions I made of the wedding process I have to say! It was funny discussing it with Beau because I think guys and girls just see it differently. Having come from my bridal shower in the States two weekends ago, it started making me think again about how lucky I am to have so many amazing women in my life and I wanted to

share my story with you.

I remember Beau saying, "Do you think they will mind if they are not a bridesmaid? You are in your thirties, do girls care anymore? They won't have to get a dress, that's a plus right!". hahah, well I am lucky to have an amazing circle of strong, wonderful ladies in my life. I am super close with a group of my sorority sisters; we have travelled the world together and stood beside each other in weddings, we have lived together, slept in the same bed for Summers together and celebrated a lot of babies together. Then there are well, my other amazing best friends, my sisters! Yes, I have mentioned them often in my blog over the years, but truly being the youngest of three tight knit sisters is amazing. They are my sisters and my friends and I look up to them as mentors but also love them as besties. I am also so incredibly grateful to still have one of my best friends since 2nd grade as a part of my life and feel like a sister to me. She is my friend from home but also a part of my DC friends and well just best friend. The DC girls are the other chapter of me in my life. These girls are the girls who saw Beau and I together probably the most often, they listened to ups and downs, moves and job changes. They have been there through a lot and I cherish the time I had with them in D.C.! Amongst these friends I have a sprinkle of so many other amazing women I call my best friends over the years that I have met while in D.C., at work, in London, in Florida, I truly cherish these friendships and work hard from a distance to keep the friendships strong.

All of this being said, you would imagine my bridal party being a party of 12, ummm, no! So Beau was having a smaller side on his part which made me think, OK, every women is important to me, so why not have a small party, a woman from each part of your life stand next to me on my big day. I went back and forth hundreds of time and stressed about it way more then I truly needed to. At the end of the day I figured out that truly, almost every woman I was inviting could be in my bridal party, because of how important they are to me, but you can't do that. I finally decided to have a woman from each part of my life; sorority, DC, sisters. I invited my best friend from college who I was her maid of honor in her wedding to be my maid of honor. Brandi is like a sister to me, we have truly had some amazing memories together and I am so excited she will be there. It was a hard choice not to have my sisters but in my mind, they are my sisters, my forever maid of honors and best friends and had them be bridesmaids together. My friend from home/DC Besse has known me since I was 6 years old and I couldn't imagine her not there. I also asked one of my besties, Christa, who was also a sorority sister of mine, we roomed together in NYC for a summer, we lived in the same BED for a summer in DC, and the list of memories go on and on.

It was difficult not to ask all of the other ladies in my life, however, after talking with my fab wedding planner friend Elizabeth, I decided to take a little Southern bridal tradition and create a "house party". There were four more lovely ladies I wanted to have a part in my day, so I asked them to be part of the house party, dress all in pink and I have asked them to help at the church alongside doing a couple of readings at the ceremony. It was a small way to incorporate them into our day, but still a memorable idea for me having them participate and be part of our day.

Listen, there is no right or wrong. If I didn't have so many amazing girlfriends I would have had only my sisters. If I didn't have my sisters in my life, I would have had 6 more girlfriends, but listen my sisters aren't leaving;) Truly though, think about it. I know it seems like a small thing, but its your wedding and on your big day you want to be surrounded by the most important ladies in your life. Do not rush it and ask people the second day you are engaged over one too many cocktails!

I put together a special little something to ask them to be a part of our big British wedding and sent over it in a little British Christmas cracker. I want them to be a part of our day, but I also want to say thank you for being such an amazing part of our life!

Good luck! If you want to have zero bridesmaids then do, if you want to have ten, then do. You will know what feels right, and truly at the end of the day, they will all love you the same.