Having a Small Bridal Party
Very early on, Benjamin and I made an unconventional decision. Prepare yourself.
We would not have traditional bridal and groomsmen parties.

MISS SIXPENCE WHAT ARE YOU THINKING | GIF via GIPHY
Just kidding. Except for the no-bridesmaids-or-groomsmen part.

We made this choice for several reasons. One, we were already asking people to come out to Chicago during the holiday season and didn’t want to further burden our closest friends. Two, if I had included everyone who I wanted/felt deserved to be a part of this celebration, we would have had at least six people each, which felt too big for the size of our wedding. And three, I was instantly overwhelmed at the thought of managing all that goes with large bridal parties. However, we did ask my sister to serve as my maid of honor and Ben’s good friend of 16 years to be his best man. And that’s that!

Sister and me, as we do (an hour or so before I slightly drunkenly said ?You?re going to be my maid of honor, right"?)
Of course, later we realized that there are actually quite a few “roles” to fill in a Catholic wedding. So, we will have two readers (Benjamin’s sister and his good friend), gift-bearers for the bread and wine (my dear friends from college who have a beautiful marriage we admire), and a Eucharistic minister (my wonderful friend and colleague who is a devout Catholic herself).
These were tough decisions, but at the end of the day, we were also...