It's an Italian thing...

Thirteen years ago, my mom got remarried and I went from being an only child to the baby...and though my step siblings had already graduated high school or college, they all still lived in Colorado...so we always saw them for holidays or other random occasions.

What was this:                                   Quickly became this, over night:

My momma and me

My big Italian Family!

Here's where the wedding part comes into play...each of my step siblings has children...to be exact, I have 6 nieces and 1 nephew. With 1 nephew, it was an automatic given that he would be the ring bearer (along with our 7 year old pom TC)

Had to throw in the picture of my little man!

But with 6 nieces (oh and let's not forget Kiel's 12 year old sister) I felt like I was in a bit of a bind.
Weddings to me are a very family oriented thing...so I wanted to ensure that each and everyone of my nieces as well as my soon-to-be younger sister-in-law were involved in some way.  You'd think this would be easy...but in the first moments of planning, it really was not...and I lost sight into pleasing myself and Kiel, and focused on trying to please everyone else...never good...
I clearly could not have 6 flower girls...as I am no royalty or soon-to-be royalty...so I had to figure out what was going to work. And so the back and forth between my fiance, my mom and myself became a chore I would have rather stepped around.





LESSON #5
Keep in mind that you may think everyone wants you to include their children (or be included themselves) in your wedding...but in actuality, they are completely understanding...especially when you have to choose from 7!

5 of the 6 nieces and my nephew!

I knew in my heart each and everyone of my nieces and STB sister-in-law needed to be a part of the wedding. Overcoming who would do what and how they would be involved was actually the simple part...especially after I sat down and really considered ages and other parts of a wedding.  The hard part was convincing Kiel to have that many involved in the wedding and convincing my mom that the girls were getting equally important rolls as the flower girl(s) would have.

The first person I tackled with this situation was my mom....honestly, that was the easy part. I explained to her that it was important to me to have all the girls involved...but I also explained having them as flower girls or junior bridesmaids just wasn't going to work, and Kiel was not agreeing.  I found some beautiful poems that were simple to read and short as well for the girls ages 5-12, showed them to my mom. She quickly agreed that this was the best option.  I am also having our florist make small corsages for the girls so the feel more involved as well...best part, my florist is giving them to me for absolutely free!

Now for Kiel.  Kiel comes from a much smaller family and though he has some close ties to them, he didn't view my big family as an added bonus.  He sees it as more guests at the wedding and too many people in the wedding party.  It's not fully been settled, and though I am getting my way by having the girls read the poems and having two flower girls, he still gets flustered with the number of our wedding party as the additional 6 girls puts our number at 17 total...keep in mind this is, our bridesmaids, groomsmen, ushers, flower girls, ring bearer and readers.  I'm honestly happy to have them in the wedding and I think in the long run, Kiel will be as well...it will make for a more special day.

TIP #4:
Include those who you feel are most important in your life. Listen to what your heart says, even if it's against what others want.  The only other person who should have a full say is your fiance.

Do you have a big wedding party? Do you have a big family like mine? What did you or will you do to make sure you included those you love in your wedding?

With Love,

Cydney ~AKA~ The Soon to be Mrs. Johnson