The Bridal Party - gotta love them!

So I debated and debated about how to ask my bridal party to be... well... part of the bridal party. I didn't really want anyone to feel pressured - though maybe by asking them in person with this card I may have not given them a chance to say no.

I like to pretend I'm a scrapbooker but really, I have the loves of a scrapbooker with no budget and too little guts to get started.

This was a big step for me. I was giving away my little works of art (sort of) to my dearest friends, but what if they didn't like it! Well everyone was amazed (thanks guys haha) that I actually made the card and they all said yes! Here is a sample of two - because I'm a complete bum when it comes to remembering my camera.

My lovely girls come from 4 different stages of my life (not planned):
*Disclaimer: I'm working off Nick's computer here so I don't have some pictures that I know I have on mine (which is broken)

Emily - friends since Elementary School

(Ok Em, we need to get some pictures together that aren't from the first day of various
grades of Elementary School and Middle School stat!)

So I just picked a good one of her :) This is from when she visited in San Francisco. She is pointing at sourdough loaf animal of some sort... it looks really weird and I don't remember what it was!

Christine - friends since High School

Every time (since like soon after we met) Christine and I greet each other by her jumping into my arms.
She is tiny and very easy to pick up but I'm not sure how this started :)
Just something we do! I'm dressed up for Halloween here so don't ask about the board shorts...

Jill (MOH) - friends since College

This is probably the most recent picture of us from last November (eep!) when I went to see her in San Diego because she was there for a neuroscience conference. Note; very large margarita and very happy faces :)

Beth - friends since after College

Yeah, only picture of us - but it was certainly an awesome day. This was like a week before we left San Francisco and Phil (husband of Beth) and Beth went with us to Alcatraz and then we stayed at Rogue all day long. It was quite a time. This is before we got super drunk (well maybe just me) and played cards for hours!

These girls have never all been together at the same time. Emily and Christine are friends because we were all friends in high school and therefore, both have met Jill. Emily has only met her briefly but Christine went to a college down the road from Jill and mine so they saw each other more. Beth hasn't met anyone because we both lived in California for 2 years. I love all my girls and I'm very excited that they will be with me on that day. Hopefully we'll be able to get some more pictures :)

Ridley Creek State Park

Ridley Creek State Park was a suggestion of a caterer we tried. It was a beautiful property, despite the rainy day and long drive from Philly. Please excuse the quality of photos; these are from my cell phone. This mansion was on a really big state park in Newton Square, PA.

This is a view of the main house.

This is one of the areas you could get married. It was an avenue of trees with a gazebo at the end.

The inside and the length of drive (and hotels nearby) deterred us enough to not choice it right away. The inside was very dark because it had wooden paneling on the walls. It was a hunter-lodge for our style. We ended up finding something we liked more anyway.... be prepared for that post!

Audubon Center

We visited an Audubon Center about 40 minutes from Philadelphia. It was beautiful with an old barn with air conditioning for the reception. Plus it had a pavilion that you could move the ceremony/cocktail reception to if it rained. My parents came back to visit with us when they were here and loved it too. Jeffrey Miller Catering is the exclusive caterer and we were a little surprised by some of the hidden costs in the buffet menu that we had thought would be in our budget. We are going for a tasting in a week so we will figure out more then!

Ceremony area between wild pear and apple trees

Barn door (from 1800s?)

Old school barn including cool roof

Colonial Dames

We visited the Colonial Dames in Center City Philadelphia. We came out with a similar feeling to Bartram's Garden - beautiful place but not for us.

Pros: beautiful building, fun stuff to do in the city, awesome ceremony area, air conditioned reception area
Cons: the actual reception area wasn't really our style, seemed a little small for 100 people

Yes, there was another wedding, literally about to start. We saw the bride.