Weddingbee Blog

In our wedding, we have lots o’ people. That may have been mentioned once or twice so far. Our wedding will look like this:

Image: 34 Person Wedding Party / Photography by Digital Photography School

That wedding had 34 people. Ours is just shy of that. We are including everyone in our count because they’re all important. Mr. Kettle and I both have a best man and maid of honor. So that’s four.

He has eight more groomsmen, bringing our total to 12. I have two more men standing up with me, which brings our total to 14. I also have six more bridesmaids, bringing our total to 20. Add in two junior bridesmaids, and we’re at 22. Then two ring bearers and two flower girls, and we’re at 26. Tack on three hostesses and two ushers, and the number is now 31. Don’t forget our two, yes two, officiants, and we’re at 33. Don’t forget Daddy Kettle, Mr. Kettle, and me. That makes 36! Yup. Thirty-six people.

I want to take this time to answer comments I’ve gotten on previous posts. The question was about our hostesses and ushers and what exactly they are. Some people double groomsmen as ushers, helping to seat people as they arrive to the ceremony. That’s not the case with us.

Momma Kettle, ever the etiquette stickler (I get it honest, you know, so I know exactly what to rebel against), tells us we should have one usher/hostess for every 50 guests. This is particularly important when our venue is at a house that has thousands of square feet spread over three stories. We’ll need people to help get all those people into the ballroom conservatory for the ceremony, out to the rest of the house for cocktail hour, then back into the ballroom for the reception. They’ll need to know where to sit and when. The mansion provides staff to do this, but having extra people on hand could only help out.

Think of a combination between a hostess at a restaurant and a regular usher at a wedding, and that’s what our hostesses and ushers will be. Why not make them honorary bridesmaids and groomsmen? Well, because then they’d get their names on the programs and we’d get no work out of them! Just kidding, but I know they’d want to be involved more than just in name.

One of our hostesses is my niece, Hostess Cheery, who’s 19 and too old to be a junior bridesmaid. The other is a high school girl I mentor, Hostess High, who’s friendly with Mr. Kettle ever since they were both in the wedding I met Mr. Kettle at last summer. The third is one of his nieces, FNIL Sniffles, who’s in college and is also too old to be a junior bridesmaid. One of our ushers is my god-brother and the other is Mr. Kettle’s cousin. They’re both in high school.

Our wedding has been used as a tool to accommodate all our close family and friends that have been in our lives for a long time. Besides the flowers girls and ring bearers who are both six years old, we’ve known everybody in our wedding party at least 10 years (including the officiants).

So, yeah, there are a lot of folks, but they’re our close friends. We’re both just super friendly people who are close to our families. It happens.

And now for your viewing pleasure, some lovely photos of random wedding-party members.

Personal photo: Our two flower girls, my lovely new nieces. Aren’t they adorable twins?

Personal photo: Our two ring bearers. They’re also twins, they just don’t look it as much.

Personal photo: FNIL Sniffles and Hostess High at our engagement party

Personal photo: GM Hubby, MOH Sis, GM Mac, Mr. Kettle, GM Cuz, and GM Light at the engagement party. I really should do something special for whoever can keep all these folks straight!

Personal photo; BM Doc, BM Mon, BM Law, BM Libra, BM Milk, and me at our engagement party

“BM” in this case stands for bridesman and bridesmaid. We’re still sorting out exactly what to call everybody in our wedding party.

Personal photo: GM Dark at a gig we all went to. I love the look on his face. He was resigning himself to being the only single and never-married one of his friends. His level of melodrama fits in nicely with Mr. Kettle and me.

Personal photo: I love this pic. From left to right: FNIL Tiny, Mr. Kettle, FNIL Sniffles, and BM Cuz’s daughter who’s my new great-niece

Soooo many people. Judging by the engagement party, I know our wedding will be exactly what we want: a big party that includes all the people we love and cherish. I will now stop alluding to our engagement party and actually give recaps in my next posts.