Wedding Blog
As you know I’ve got 2 awesome bridesmaids and my adorable little sister in the maid of honor role. But why stop there when I could have my very own house party?! 
Fellow Texas bride Jenna Bush had 14 ladies in her house party all wearing custom Lela Rose. Lucky.
Ah yes, time for another one of my favorite Southern wedding traditions, the house party. The term house party refers to a group of ladies whom you would have asked to be in your bridal party but for some reason or another didn’t. Inviting them to be a part of the house party provides a way for these women to still totally play contributing roles in your wedding without feeling left out. Traditionally, the house party’s primary raison d’être is to help the maid of honor in planning the showers and bachelorette. Additionally the house party acts as a de facto DOC taking charge of the decorations for the church and the reception, thus making it easier for the maid of honor to tend to more pressing matters with the bride (i.e. keeping the Veuve flowing). Luckily for me I have the amazing Becky and her awesome assistant to assist with these tasks as well so it looks like we’ll be keeping the slave labor to a minimum.
While I’m hoping my party girls can help out along the way, my main goal in enlisting them is that each of them totally ups the fun quotient whenever they’re around. I’ll have 5 lovely ladies in my house party that are a mix of family and friends. Yay!
Are you having a house party in addition to your wedding party?
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Share this post: There Ain’t No Party Like a Lemonade House Party
Being born and raised in CT I never even heard of a house party, but it sounds like a ton of fun! Thanks for sharing!
Yes! Thank you for letting this MD bride in on the scoop. My mom saw this recently at a TX wedding, but didn’t know the full story. I makes sense for me. I’m having my two bothers stand as my ‘men of honor’ and don’t really want to go the “bridesmaid” route. I still want to incorporate my best girl friends, though, so I love the idea of a house party. What is your house party wearing? Can the groom have a house party?
Awww I want a house party! I have 3 ladies as my bridal party (MOH - my sister, and 2 bride’s maids) but there are about 3 - 4 ladies I would love to ask but are either getting married around the same time or I would just look weird having that many ppl up there w/ me when FH has 2.
I’ve never heard of this! It’s a great idea! I guess there have been times when I haven’t been a bridesmaid, but have helped set up decorations, now I know the term! 
How jealous was I of Jenna Bush’s wedding. So jealous. It was utterly gorgeous, and those Lela Rose dresses are amazing! I’ve never heard of a “house party” until now, but I love it! Thanks for sharing, Miss L!
We are definitely having a house party! Because we have so many awesome friends, our bridal party would have been ridiculously huge, like 10 people on each side. So we decided to keep it within the family, bringing it down to 2 each. But we would still love everyone to be a part of it, and we’re asking them to help out… such as ushering/guestbook/slam poetry/etc.
I’ve never heard of this either… how fun! Thanks for sharing!
Being from Texas, I never knew that a House Party wasn’t standard! Many of my friends and I volunteer with youth and often the house party is consisted of the young girls we/they mentor. They usually wear the same color as the bridesmaids (but get to wear their own dress) and get a special corsage. Someone asked about the men having a house party… those are the ushers.
I’m also a Texas bride and will be having 3 of my friends as house party to match the 3 ushers. They’ll hand out programs, man the guest book, help with decorations, and party with me at all the pre-wedding celebrations.
Ladies, be very careful in asking friends and family to be included in your house party as in some parts of the country this is considered almost an insult. While I understand that it is not meant to be rude, this invite can be seen as giving friends a title just to get free labor out of them. I would much rather someone ask me (politely please!) to please help them make their wedding day special by making sure all the guest get the much slaved over-DIY-should be a work of art-programs, rather than “Oh we want to include you, but we are not telling you that you will be spending major bucks attending all of the pre-wedding functions and handing out programs”.
[...] So, what do I do? How can I acknowledge my friends — to let them know how much they mean to me, and that I really do want them actively involved (somehow!) in the wedding? We’re planning on involving our family in the ceremony, so that’s not an option. I’m a Philly girl, but am intrigued by the Miss Lemonade’s description of the house party. [...]
[...] Having decided against enlarging the wedding party, I opted to introduce my friends to the concept Mrs. Lemonade wrote about — the house party — and see if (and how) they would feel comfortable proceeding. [...]
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Mrs. Lemonade, Austin/San Antonio
Age and Occupation: 28, Bureaucrat
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Music Management
Engagement Date: December 21, 2007
Wedding Date: April, 2009
Blogging Since: August 22, 2008
Venue: Country Club ceremony, ballroom reception
About Me: I’m a total wonkette who is lucky enough to be surrounded by her favorite things on a daily basis – awesome music, the great State of Texas and of course, Mr. Lemonade! I find any excuse I can to craft something and am completely infatuated with the 1950’s, all things Kennedy, and my furbaby Vida.
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