Weddingbee Blog

“The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other’s life.
Rarely do members of one’s family grow up under the same roof.” - Richard Bach

{I’m a lucky gal to have these girls in my life. Left to right: high school friend M, Bridesmaid V, and me }

If you were to ask Mr. Ostrich and me who the guests were at our wedding….we would respond, simply, with one word.

Family.

Are they our relatives? A few of them. And yes, by all technical definitions, these blood related few are what the majority of the world would consider “family.”

But for Mr. O and me, those other 50 individuals, who will be standing alongside us on that beach as we begin this new adventure in our life, are as important to us as our mothers, brothers, nieces and nephew.

They’ve been our shoulder, ear, rock, and biggest fans. They’ve held my hair back as I’ve worshipped the porcelain god. They’ve called us out when we’ve made excuses for not going after our dreams. They’re the people we call in moments of uncertainty. They’ve been the co-stars of our most unforgettable adventures. And they’ve been the patient, tireless support system for Mr. O and I as we’ve traveled our long, sometimes rocky and always unpredictable relationship journey.

These are the people who have supported, inspired and shaped who Mr. O and I are today.

They are our family.

{in honor of my favorite TV show of all time—that just ended this week - FNL}

{source}

When I first started planning this wedding, I got a lot of grief from some family members {I have hundreds - no joke} because we had made the decision to only invite immediate relatives. “What?! You’re not inviting the family? But we’re your family!”

Actually, you’re my relatives. And growing up, there have been quite the fair share of drama and family feuding and that is the last thing I would wish for on our wedding day. And while I’m close to a few of the hundreds that qualify as my relatives, the Ostrich wedding budget sadly isn’t an endless bounty of money. So we had to choose—who are the people who not only have supported, inspired and shaped me, but have also played a role in the growth of the Ostrich relationship over all these years?

And once we asked ourselves this question, the answer was so clear and easy.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my relatives. I truly do from the bottom of my heart. They’ve raised me, taught me and were there for me every step of the way after my dad passed away. We have a blast at family get togethers and I know they wish they could see me more often than they do, as the majority of my relatives tend to spend the majority of their time with each other.

But in my eyes, being related doesn’t entitle a person to attending wedding. I believe you have to contribute to the lives of the soon-to-be-wed couple to earn your place at a wedding. It’s supposed to be one of the most blissful days of our lives and the thought of having people there who barely know the history of our relationship or have met the groom once seems bizarre to me. But then again, Mr. O and I are pretty private people and want a very intimate ceremony, so we could be in the minority here.

As a compromise, Mr. Ostrich and I thought it would be best to have an at home reception a few months after our wedding that would include every single relative who wanted to come. It’ll be a nice introduction of Mr. O to his new multitude of Filipino aunts, uncles and cousins and me to his side of Filipino and Korean relatives. Full of mouth watering Asian food, oldies and ballroom dancing music, a photo album and video of our wedding and the latest family gossip, it’ll be a party for the ages.

Bees, how did you decide who your guests would be? Was it harder than you imagined, or easier?