Standing in Support

I had given my wedding basically zero thought prior to becoming engaged. I made sure Mr. SB knew what kind of ring I did (and more importantly did NOT) like. I also made sure he knew how much I would despise any type of public, ie. sign at a sporting event, proposal. Other than that, only one detail was solidified in my mind. Who I wanted standing next to me while I got married to the love of my life.

This issue has come up randomly over the past few years. You see, I am the oldest of 8 children, the first SEVEN of who are female. We get tonssss of comments along the lines of "Your dad sure has to pay for a lot of weddings!" and "You're going to have a huge wedding party!" Well, actually, it's kind of a sensitive subject. I never wanted to have a big wedding and the thought of six bridesmaids is overwhelming. Logistically, Mr. SB is an only child and my sisters range from 5 1/2 to 16 years younger than I am. So I sat down to think how I would handle this when the time came.

While I love all of my sisters verrrrrry much, to many of them, I am the much older sister who lives far away. I am closest in age and friendship with my sister, K, though we basically couldn't live further apart and still be in the continental U.S. (I'm in California and she's in Washington, D.C./Virginia). While Mr. SB is close with a group of guys, he has one obvious best friend who he has know since childhood. All of a sudden, my choice became quite obvious. Some day, in the who-knows-when-future, we would have a wedding party of two: MOH Sister K & Best man Mr. SB's best friend. (I announced this to Mr. SB one day. I was met with an "Um, what? Ok, sure..?" response. Note to readers: do not announce wedding details as facts prior to your engagement. It freaks them out.)

Now that we're in the planning stages, I couldn't be happier with this decision. Our closest, most supportive friends and family will be next to us, our wedding party is proportionate to our guest list, and no one was "left out" (by choosing some sisters, or having an age cut off, or.. any of the other ideas that went through my head) or randomly chosen (Mr. SB really didn't have 6 guys he wanted to include).

Thank you for listening to all my random ideas and sorting through my wedding link filled emails, sis! Onto the planning....

What details did you have planned pte (prior to engagement)?