The Only Time Having Too Many Friends is a Problem

The Only Time Having Too Many Friends is a Problem

August 21st, 2010 @ 6:00 pm by Mrs. Hippo
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We will have about 120 guests at our wedding. It’s not huge, but not tiny. For us, this is just the right size. We’ve been able to include all the people that we would love to have celebrate with us, and we can legitimately use the “we’re having a relatively small affair” excuse when people who THINK they should be invited aren’t on the short list. And by the way, if I haven’t seen or talked to you in four years… why would you think you would be invited to our wedding???!?? Facebook does not count. But I digress…

The hard part for me wasn’t the guest list so much as the bridal party. With only 120 guests, it’s just not feasible to have a ton of bridesmaids. And since we are minding the budget, limiting the number of bridesmaids just makes financial sense. More bridesmaids = more bouquets + bridal party gifts = more money. The hard part is that I have a lot of really close girlfriends, not to mention that I have been a bridesmaid six times myself. What is a girl to do???!?

Enter the House Party.

I think the concept of a house party may have begun in the South, but basically it’s a way to honor the women who WOULD have been bridesmaids if you were (a) having a larger affair or (b) weren’t concerned about budget so much. The house party does not stand up during the ceremony with the other bridesmaids or wear matching dresses (although I suppose they could wear something coordinating), but they are included in just about everything else and are listed in the wedding program. I also want the house party hanging out with me the day of the wedding when the getting ready stuff is happening. I can’t imagine NOT having these people behind the scenes, even though they aren’t officially bridesmaids. I’ve been in the house party for a friend and felt every bit as special as I would have if I had been a bridesmaid. And frankly, it’s a lot less work!

So, I’ve decided to have four bridemaids - Sister Hippo will be my MOH, and then three other bridesmaids. I have an additional five women that will be in the house party, bringing the total group to nine. I’m still tossing around the ideas in my head about how to handle the house party during the procession and where they should be seated (in a row of their own? with their spouses?) but I have plenty of time to figure it out.

Anyone else having a house party in addition to your bridesmaids?

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33 Responses to “The Only Time Having Too Many Friends is a Problem”

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Member

MissMargie (message) 767 posts, Busy bee

Wow I’ve never heard of the concept of a house party, but I really love it! I think it’s a great way of including more special people on your wedding day

8/21/10 @ 6:42 pm (reply)

Member

helenberrycrunch (message) 3,690 posts, Sugar bee

I wanted a house party soooo badly. Mr. Dear shot it down with a flaming arrow.

8/21/10 @ 6:51 pm (reply)

Guest

I have ALWAYS wondered how to handle this dilemma, seeing as I have been a bridesmaid myself many times over, and have a large family to boot. I love this idea to pieces!!

8/21/10 @ 6:58 pm (reply)

Guest

estrellastar

I’ve never heard of this before. Is there an equivalent for men? I want a small bridal party (just sisters) but FI would have about a dozen groomsmen if he could!

8/21/10 @ 7:13 pm (reply)

Member

Encore (message) 680 posts, Busy bee

I absolutely love this idea, especially since we’ve skipped having a bridal party at all. This would be an awesome way to include the friends I’ve known for over half my life without having the fuss of a bridal party. Now you’ve got me thinking!

8/21/10 @ 7:45 pm (reply)

Member

spaganya (message) 2,291 posts, Buzzing bee

they have this all the time where im from - but we just name them as honorary bridesmaids - they get a corsage or wear the same color as the BMs but dont have to get the “dress” or anything like that.

8/21/10 @ 7:57 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Sand Dollar (message) 1,305 posts, Bumble bee

I’m not having a house party, so much as friends who will be around while we get ready and will help us out. So….I guess it is an unofficial house party!! Hahaha

8/21/10 @ 8:06 pm (reply)

Member

kaybee (message) 631 posts, Busy bee

I like your idea. Another idea is a friend wanted to include a lot of girls in her wedding so we each walked down the aisle carrying one flower and her one and only maid of honor at the front took each one and made wedding bouquet for her. Once the bride arrived at the front, her maid of honor handed her the bouquet we created.

8/21/10 @ 8:15 pm (reply)

Member

marieta (message) 339 posts, Helper bee

I’ve never heard of a house party before. I do think it’s a cool idea.

8/21/10 @ 9:13 pm (reply)

10.

Guest

Breezy

Smart idea Hippo!!! I def. think they should be seated together, maybs without their spouses since it’s been a ‘group’ thing all along…

8/21/10 @ 9:53 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Miss Barrettes (message) 883 posts, Busy bee

oops ^^^ that was me!

8/21/10 @ 9:54 pm (reply)

12.

Bee

Miss Hippo (message) 1,008 posts, Bumble bee

@estrellastar: I think the equivalent for men would be ushers. They are a part of the bridal party but don’t stand up during the ceremony.

8/21/10 @ 10:23 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Elephant (message) 6,182 posts, Bee Keeper

I’m having a house party, but it will only be 2 girls (I have 4 bridesmaids as well). I love that it’s a way to include others without having a large number of BMs at the front.

8/21/10 @ 10:41 pm (reply)

14.

Member

ZoeKat (message) 590 posts, Busy bee

I love that! I’ve never heard of it.

8/21/10 @ 10:54 pm (reply)

15.

Bee

Miss Glasses (message) 2,741 posts, Sugar bee

I’m like Sand Dollar. I’ve got a whole bunch of my girls hanging out and helping me although we don’t even officially have a wedding party! Interesting wedding practice, the house party!

8/22/10 @ 4:07 am (reply)

16.

Member

lindsd16 (message) 121 posts, Blushing bee

This is the first time I’ve heard of this, but I wish I had heard of it earlier! We are having a wedding of similar size but we have 8 groomsmen and 7 bridesmaids so far!! Aaah! So many people! I wish we had a smaller party but there’s just no way we could “cut” any of these people out, so here we are with a huge bridal party! Good for you for thinking outside the box!

8/22/10 @ 10:20 am (reply)

17.

Guest

lunarbelle

love the idea but had never heard of it previously. Many years ago when I married my first husband — I could have used this. I had to put my friends names in hat and pull out two names. I had so many female family that had to be put in place first

8/22/10 @ 10:33 am (reply)

18.

Member

LisaM (message) 160 posts, Blushing bee

Totally cool idea you have there. Haven’t heard of this concept yet. But totally unique. Probably one day more couple would do this and this would be a start of a new trend.

8/22/10 @ 1:21 pm (reply)

19.

Member

kentuckygirl (message) 120 posts, Blushing bee

Will you list them as “house party” in the program? I have seen this before but they were listed as “seated bridesmaids” or maybe even “seated honor attendants” as one was a man.

8/22/10 @ 2:08 pm (reply)

20.

Guest

KatieKat

I’ve never heard of a house party but the last wedding I was “in” had something similar.
She had 3 bridesmaids and then myself and 3 other friends were her Attendants. We wore the same color dress but we got to pick it out and I think we were listed in the program…we didn’t do anything during the ceremony though. Just helped out before and after!

8/22/10 @ 2:23 pm (reply)

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