Our Semi-Alternative Wedding Party

Meg at a Practical Wedding posted yesterday on non-bridesmaids, and I realized that Beau and I are having a semi-non-traditional wedding party.  We are going to have one, though we are calling them honored guests because its mixed gender, there won't be a best man or maid of honor distinctions, and some of them will be asked to preform ceremonial functions in the wedding.  

The Beau's group is not completely decided, but it will definitely include is brother, his sister and his sister's fiance.  It will also include two more close friends as chuppah holders.  

My group is a little more complicated.  I did want a MOH, but there were three possible choices - my sister, my best friend Big D, or my other best friend Maya (not her real name).  I was recently Big D's MOH and would love for her to be mine, but in August she is moving to Turkey for a two-year assignment as a US diplomat (cool-right!).  She will be able to attend the wedding, but it is unlikely that she will be able to attend any of the other wedding related activities.  My sister would hate every minute of it and may even move back to Israel sometime in the next year and half, so she is out.  Maya, would love to be the MOH, but I just couldn't pick between the three, so I'm not.  

I will also be having two chuppah holders my childhood friend O-bear and the lovely Doctor Whimsy (hey Doctor, if you are reading, I just hadn't gotten around to asking you - will you do it?).  

Maya was initially skeptical of this arrangement, especially in relation to who is planning any pre-wedding events and who is giving the MOH speech.  The speech was easy, Beau and I are going to open the floor to any of our honored guests who would like to say something.  The pre-wedding activities took some thought, but I decided to delegate, so that no one person was saddled with all the responsibility - as a former MOH, I can say that it took a huge amount of work to plan it all!

• Engagement party - Big D and O-bear; I didn't want an engagement party but Big D was very insistent that she wanted to throw me one before she leaves for Turkey and they are both excellent cooks!  I think its going to be a Memorial Day BBQ.
• Shower - my sister/mom and the doctor (doctor, is that alright? I swear I was going to ask you in person)
• Bachelorette party - Maya; this is going to be outrageous!  I can already tell that Maya's going to go all out on this - in high school she liked to make me blush with talk about sexual things and in college she tricked me into going to a male strip club (long story)!

Its complicated, but so far it seems to be working.  No one person has tons of responsibility and I didn't have to potentially hurt anyones feelings, by picking my one bestest friend out of my best friends - I refuse to let my wedding be a source of contention between my nearest and dearest.

And finally, dress.  The men will be asked to wear dark suits that they already own and we will provide the ties.  I haven't decided what to ask the ladies to wear.  I'm thinking of asking them to each get a knee-length dress of their choice in any shade of green (or possibly purple) - I will probably take a vote to see which color they prefer.

Wow, that was a surprisingly long post.  I hope it wasn't too boring!