Wedding Blog
So here’s my first stab at the layout for the ceremony:
Pretty simple, eh?
A few points of note:
1) The ceremony will be very very short (~10 minutes tops) so we are (gasp!) going to make our guests stand for it. There are pleeeentyyy of places to sit and mingle if they get there early, and we are providing chairs for our parents, grandparents, and anyone who really needs a chair. And if there aren’t quite enough of those, the ceremony is practically on top of the reception, so we can pull an extra chair over. I know this is very anti-etiquette but we’re keeping it informal and of all the generations who have gotten married where we are, at our family’s summer house, no one has ever provided chairs, so we are very much not worried about it.
2) What does everyone think of the placement for the honorary bridesmaids? To refresh your memories, I wanted to honor several (five to be exact) of my friends who definitely would have been “bridesmaid” bridesmaids if I were having a different style of wedding, so I made up a new title for them! But the reason I didn’t want bridesmaid bridesmaids in the first place is because it would just look too formal with that many people all standing in front, and Mr. Bluebell didn’t want to pick correlating groomsmen etc, so this just seemed so much simpler.
But that means - what to do with the honorary bridesmaids now? I want them to be semi-matchy (aka not actually matching outfits, but recognizable to other guests as being a group) and we are currently thinking about different jcrew dresses all in the same color. And then I thought maybe they could line the aisle - walk out as a real processional but stop at the point where they are supposed to stand. Then they’d just face in towards the aisle, and turn to face us at the front after I walk up? I’m figuring if everyone else is standing anyway, they won’t be in the way. 
There is of course then the issue of 2 vs 3 on the different sides, but I think that’s going to be fine. And they’ll also have either mini bouquets or a flower in their hair or something fun like that in the floral arena.
I know it’s untraditional, but for some reason the big wall of bridesmaids just doesn’t seem “right” for my wedding so I’m trying to find another way to work them in! Any other suggestions would be great!
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I think it depends on how distanced they are from the guests and how many guests there will be. The people just to either side of the HBs will see that they are special, but will the people on the other side of the crowd? I would go same color/different dress instead of vice versa, and maybe small bouquets. Then there’d be no doubt that it was meant to be that way. I like the idea of them coming in after the guests are “seated” so that they really are part of the ceremony. And I think if you stagger them the way you have it in the diagram, the odd number won’t matter.
I also like the part about the coming in after the “regular” folks! I think same color/different dresses is better than different colors, same dress. Could you maybe have them in the frontish-row? So they aren’t flanking the aisle like bodyguards?
I too am having only one BM but have other women in my life that I would like to honor as well so I was very interested in this post! I haven’t yet figured out how I am going to include them so it was nice to see your ideas. I have heard of other people making the honorary BM their “house party” and asking them to act as hostesses to the reception. While I certainly would love the help at the reception keeping everything in order and running smoothly I am not sure that I like the idea of asking these special ladies to “work the door” for me. I really don’t know what to do. Do you think that they would see that as a nice gesture or a hassle? I really don’t know how else to include them…
i’m doing the same thing (making people stand). It’s either that or have the ceremony inside due to space as there’s plenty of room for people to stand, however the onsite chairs are too big to bring in and out, so we’re only having a few for handicapped guests. for so short a time, i wouldn’t sweat it as long as there are options if need be.
That’s cute. I am concerned that your honorary bms will get lost in the crowd the way they are positioned.
One thing that might tie them all together would be a corsage so they don’t have to carry around a bouquet the whole time.
Hmm - did you get this idea from me???? Because that’s what I’m doing as well! My girls are going to stand on the sides of the aisle and hand me a flower as I walk down, and that is what will make up my bouquet. Yes - people think it’s weird and will block guests views. I really don’t care - I’ve never been to a wedding where I had a perfect view of the bride walking down anyway - people stand up - they’re in the way - that’s just how it is!
I had HBs as well. I gave each of them a matching corsage. They wore whatever they wanted - I didn’t think it would be right to ask them to wear something specific since they weren’t REALLY bridesmaids. The corsages were great and they got compliments all night long.
Thanks for all the thoughts, everyone! It’s great to see that several of you are doing similar things!!
Heather - what kind of corsage did you give them? Wrist or pin-on? I had thought of corsages originally but various people have said they thought it might look like old lady flowers, but I thought they’d be cute!! But I told the girls they could do whatever they want, since I think any type of flowers will serve the purpose so they might as well get what they like best!
As for positioning, I was thinking of marking off a bit of space on either side of the aisle to hold the regular guests back, so that there would be room reserved for the HBs when they walked up and they would look more separate from the guests. I think there will be room for that!
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Mrs. Bluebell, New York
Age and Occupation in 07: 26, Finance Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Playing with the cat and/or Consulting
Engagement Date: December 25, 2005
Wedding Date: June 2007
Venue: Bride's family summer home in the Adirondacks
About Me: Trying to find the perfect balance between family tradition (marrying at the house everyone else in my family gets married at), making our's modern, interesting and different from everyone else in my family's, and incorporating some Chinese tradition for my Chinese fiance. I really have no idea what it's going to end up looking like!
Also, I picked Miss Bluebell for my name because I have blue eyes and I'm a loser like that.
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