Wedding Party & Family Portraits

Last time I shared photos of our wedding party and family getting ready for our quick portrait session. Now I'll share the portraits with you. No matter how much you love "documentary" style photography, you really want to have a few pictures to frame for parents and grandparents when all is said and done. Daria and Andy had a way of making everyone feel and look relaxed so these images don't feel stuffy.


Mr. Onion with his brother and parents.


With Mr. Onion and my soon to be in-laws.


With my parents and brother.


With my parents.


With Mr. Onion's family - mom, dad, brother and grandmother.


Mr. Onion with his brother. I love this picture because it's so them -- laughing and smiling!


Mr. Onion's parents -- aren't they a handsome couple? They celebrated their 35 year wedding anniversary the weekend before our wedding.


My beautiful flower girl -- she turned 8 a few days after the wedding.


Great photo of her tulip bouquet. Because she is such a mature little lady I wanted her to have a bouquet too, and tulips are my favorite flowers.


My girls! The bridesmaids are wearing Ann Taylor Celebration's dresses and our flower girl's sash is also from Ann Taylor. Their beautiful dangly pearl earrings were part of my gift to them and are from Dasha Boutiques.


The entire wedding party.


A fun moment of me with the guys.


This is Mr. Onion's favorite photo from this part of the day. From left to right -- His best friend/GM, Mr. Onion, his brother and his father.


My lovely bridesmaids. Don't they look elegant?


Stunning photo of their dresses and beautiful bouquets.

Up Next...the ceremony is about to begin

Photos: Daria Bishop Photography
All flowers: Fresh Floral Design Studio
Location: Willard Street Inn, Burlington, VT
My Dress: Romona Keveza from Mark Ingram's Bridal Atelier
My Veil: Two tier elbow length from Rose's Bridal, NYC
Mr. Onion's suit: Alan David Custom
BM Dresses: Ann Taylor Celebrations Collection
GM Suits: Rental from Dante Zellar

Siblings and Wedding Parties

Who to have in your wedding party is a difficult decision. Many brides have their sisters and best friends and I've seen many grooms include their brothers, fathers and best friends (huh, I've never seen the bride's mother in the weeding party...have you)? But when it comes to the bride's brother and the groom's sister, things get big quickly.


Mrs. Snow Pea's large and lovely wedding party. Photo by Henry Chan


Knottie Nova726 with her sister-in-law/bridesmaid, her husband and her brother/groomsman

When we started planning neither of us had to think much about our wedding party -- my bridesmaids would be my three best friends and his groomsmen would be his brother, father and best friend. That left my brother out and my mother was NOT happy about this. She pushed and pushed for us to include him. I was frustrated that she was trying to make this decision for Mr. Onion. Yes, they were friends when they were young, but that doesn't mean he would want to have him in his wedding party. It was a big back and forth and a fighting point for months.

In the end it all worked out. Brother Onion didn't have to rent a suit, he didn't have to come home for the bachelor party, he didn't have to take a day off of school to make it in time for the rehearsal, he got to wear his kilt AND he made a toast anyway. I suggested he read a poem at the ceremony or speak at the reception -- however he wanted to be involved was fine with me.


My parents and brother (note my brother's kilt -- wouldn't have worked with the wedding party attire, that's for sure).

I imagine this is an issue for many of you. Did you or will you have your husband's sister in your wedding party? Did he have your brother in his? Was this a choice for each of you, or something that was "expected" or "encouraged" by your families? How did this change your vision of your day? Did it force you to have a much larger wedding party than you'd hoped for? Feel free to share your experiences and stories.