When I was choosing who to ask to be my bridesmaids I thought about it pretty hard.  There were a lot of people I could ask since I have a ton of friends who I love.  So how do you pick who is going to stand with you on one of the most important days of your life?  So I thought about who has stood with me over the years.  I thought about those whose friendship has been deep and soulful.  My “bosom friends” if you will, according to Anne of Green Gables.

So these are the ladies I asked to stand with me on our special day.

They are fun, amazing, gifted, devoted, kind, funny, awesome people.  I am blessed to know them.  They seriously took care of me that day making sure I had water, lip gloss and that I ate.  I couldn’t ask for better friends.

Don’t they look gorgeous?  I told them all to pick a dress in the eggplant/aubergine purple-ish family.  I love how they all worked together.

Let me introduce you to these wonderful ladies.

First is Karey, my maid (we thought matron sounded old) of honor.  She and I met at a photo conference several years ago.  She has been my second shooter for weddings umpteen times and she is the best!  There was a time where I think we talked every day.  We were both working from home and so we would keep each other company and ask each other’s opinion on business stuff.  Over time we would bear more and more of our souls.  She drove to my house from Irvine one day just to give me a hug when I was having a tough day.  She is a great friend.  AND she’s expecting!  Her little baby bump was just starting to show.

Next is Heidi.  She and I met through a friend at church and we became instant friends.  Her laugh is contagious and I knew I liked her right away.  She was my first roommate when I moved into my house and she helped me make a lot of decorating decisions in the beginning.  We watched a lot of Glee and So You Think You Can Dance, planned fun nights out together and commiserated with each other over guys.  We would encourage each other saying that all the guys should be banging down our door because we’re funny, smart, and, “we love the Lord…. most of the time…”  (that made us laugh every time)!  She is a loyal friend and someone that is just fun to be around.  She and her hubby are also expecting a little one very soon.  Yes, two of my four bridesmaids were preggers!

Next is Nicole.  She has known me longer than any other friend.  We met in mommy and me pre-school when we were 3!  We were playmates for a few years but went to different kindergartens.  Then we both ended up being transferred to the same school for the GATE program in 2nd grade so we were in the same classes all the way through high school!  Needless to say, we’ve got a lot of history.  She is that friend that when you find yourself quoting something and nobody around you gets it, you think, “man, Nicole would get it and laugh with me”.  She’s that friend that even if you don’t talk to them for a while, you can pick up right where you left off.  She’s hilarious, an awesome mom of 3 adorable kiddos, and has seen every haircut I’ve ever had, for this I use the best haircut scissors from Trimmer Adviser which are perfect for different haircuts.  Friends like these aren’t friends, they’re family.

And then there’s Lanette.  Lanette has been my globe-trotting partner, my Broadway buddy and so much more.  We have shared so many adventures together!  We met when I was in college and went to work as a youth intern for a little church in Claremont.  We sang on the worship team together, took kids on numerous trips to the mountains, beach, camp, you name it!  We’ve broken into a pastor’s cabin, lost car keys in the snow, taken a red-eye to New York, stayed 24 hours to see two shows and then flew out, with no sleep, to Aruba.  We’ve taken trips to Italy, Cabo, Aruba, New York and Spain together.  We laughed at our ridiculous circumstances as we tried desperately not to throw up as everyone on our boat from Morocco was getting sea sick and I sang It is Well With My Soul with my eyes closed and ears plugged.  She is a wise soul.  A kind heart.  A smart gal, loyal friend and pretty much my only friend that will geek out with me on Broadway stuff!

I am one blessed girl.

I gave each of my girls these tiny bow necklaces with gold hoops and bangles, saying, “thank’s for helping me tie the knot”.

I surrounded myself with quality.

And fun!

And here’s the dudes.  They look very serious and debonaire here, but don’t be fooled…..

That’s more like it.

Now obviously I can’t speak for Tony about his guys and since I have only known most of them for a short while, I don’t have as much that I can say about them…. but I’ll do my best!

First up is Jake, Tony’s best man.  They met at Dallas Theological Seminary 17 years ago.  Woah!  Jake said his first memory of Tony is in the cafeteria.  Tony was at the salad bar.  He looked over at Jake and said, “Me hungry!”  Their friendship was solidified from there. 🙂  Jake and Tony were roommates for many years and they are best buds.  There were many times that they thought they would both be bachelors forever, but both of them met their brides on eHarmony and got married when they were 40.

Next is my brother, Ron.  I’ve obviously known him a while.  He is 4 years older than me and has been a protective brother.  He fell in love with Tony as soon as he met him.   Very early on he was excited to start calling Tony his brother.  He’s the brother he never had.  They’ve become great buddies, sharing fart jokes and going fishing.  Sounds like brothers to me!

Next is David.  Tony met David at church in college when he took David’s sister to the senior ball.  They’ve pretty much been friends ever since and would often go shoot guns after church.  David lives in Nor Cal, but I got to meet him several months before the wedding.  He and his family are just some of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

And last, but not least is Paulie (Paul).  They also met in seminary.  They lived in the dorms at Dallas so I’m sure Tony, Jake and he have a lot of funny stories to tell.  He has been a good friend to Tony and we were blessed that Paul was able to come out from Florida for the wedding.

We told the guys that they could wear whatever dark grey suit they had.  We got them all different plaid-ish ties that were super cool!

I believe Tony was giving Ron a wet willy.  He wanted a brother!

We were so honored to have these wonderful people stand up next to us on such an important day.  Our cup runneth over!