Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaids (The Girls)

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I'm delighted to introduce my bridesmaids to you today, dear readers!  There are so many wonderful people in our lives that, when Jon and I started writing up a list of everyone we wanted to give a role to in our wedding, we found we had more participants than guests.  So we went with the most obvious and most intimate choice for the girls who will stand up with us on the day - my sister is my Maid of Honor and Jon's sister is my only bridesmaid.

There are so many cute ways to ask your best girls to be your bridesmaids, but because Jon and I sort of slid into our engagement (and because Sarah and Ellie were in Boston and England, respectively) there never really was a formal opportunity to ask our sisters properly.  I sort of almost managed to propose MOH-ness to Sarah in Hallmark style: I posted her a letter in the spring, once Jon and I had agreed we would be getting married, but requested she not open it until I said so.  When Jon proposed a few weeks later, I shared the official news with Sarah by telling her it was time to read the letter!  Ellie actually was asked earlier, quite by accident and in the chaos of the moment.  Jon's whole family toasted us at Easter, after we had let them know it was definitely eventually happening, and I got swept up in the love and happiness of the champagne and Ellie agreed to be my bridesmaid right on the spot!

We'll talk gowns next week, but Jon and I are going tell you a little bit about these two gorgeous girls first...

This is my sister Sarah.  She's two years and one day younger than I am, we hated sharing birthday parties when we were little, and we have dozens of pictures of us together from the early '90s where I'm dressed up in Mom's finest silk blouses and pearls and Sarah is... naked.  So now you really know everything there is to know about my sister!  Just kidding, but I have written about her before (here and here, for example) and she's even guest-posted (here for Frock Fridays and here in vlog form), so she's probably pretty familiar to you if you've been reading Betsy Transatlantically for a while.

It goes without saying that there's no one I'd rather have as my Maid of Honor.  Sarah's moral compass has usually tended more towards north than mine and she has very high standards for those she lets into her inner circle, so I cried with happiness when I texted her a few months ago that Jon had asked me to post him Combos and she wrote back "That's my brother-in-law!"  She's always supported me and encouraged me, even when she's thought that I might be a bit cray, as she'd say, and I'm honored that she'll be standing next to me when I get married.  Sarah, if you're reading this - I love you.

And here's Jon on Ellie:
So my little sister is called Ellie and we go back a long way - I've known her for a whole 22 years now. Crazy. Anyway, Ellie and I have a lot in common so she seemed like an ideal choice for a Bridesmaid - we grew up in the same area, shared things like parents (still do!), and we even today regularly find the time in our super-busy lives to see each other, even at Christmas! Ok, flippant British remarks used to cover up emotion aside, Ellie is in all seriousness a wonderful sister to have - I think it's fair to say we share the same sense of humour and outlook on life, and I love her for the fact that my getting married will not change how she sees me for even a second. However, I am proud that my greatest accomplishment, in her eyes, is to bring such a glamorous, wonderful and beautiful American girl into the family - which is good, because I also see it as my greatest triumph. Right, that is as much affection I can bear to give in blog form - Ellie, you're an awesome sister and I am also genuinely honoured that you will be by our side; if you're reading this - then stop procrastinating and do some work!

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Next week - the gowns!

linking up with something charming today!