House Party?!

AJesteram

Has anyone ever heard of this? One of my sorority sisters just asked me to be in the 'house party' for her wedding. Up until 10 minutes ago I had absolutely no idea what it was.
Per Google a house party is...

What is a house party? How is it different from bridesmaids?

A house party is a Southern tradition through and through. I've never met someone from above the Mason-Dixon line that had heard of it before, but every single Houston wedding planner I talked to asked me how many bridesmaids I had and how many girls were in my house party.

The main difference between a house party member and a bridesmaid is that the house party does not participate in the wedding ceremony.  They don't stand up with you at the altar in the church; they sit with your family in the front row.  There are lots of other duties that the house party can help you with: guest book attendant, gift table attendant, handing out programs, serving cake, and just helping you get through the day.

The house party is just as much a part of the wedding party as the bridesmaids.  Usually, the house party participates in all of the same wedding festivities as the bridesmaids: bridal showers, bachelorette party, bridal party luncheon, wedding day pictures, etc.  They also get a small gift from the bride as thanks for helping with the wedding.

The house party is analogous to ushers who aren't groomsmen: they don't participate in the ceremony, but they are certainly vital to the wedding day.

Am I the only one who had never heard of this, just wondering.

[Deleted User]

This is interesting.  I have never heard of it either.  Weird how some traditions don't make it very far.

CASK85

sounds a little like getting stuck doing the bitch work with a pretty title. 

PaigeMcC

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_house-party?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:b66704c4-ff2c-42cd-89d1-67d3f9cc2564Post:d73dad3c-14a9-46c1-9a73-fac8cd68ec93">Re: House Party?!</a>:
[QUOTE]sounds a little like getting stuck doing the bitch work with a pretty title. 
Posted by cschiano[/QUOTE]

<div>Took the words right out of my mouth.</div>

AbigailMS

I've heard of it, but here in Oklahoma...we just stick people with the bitch work, and no pretty title or recognition in the program. At least that's what all my cousins did. My sister just hired 3 people from a serving company, they did all that day of stuff. Sounds kind of unnecessary? Idk maybe that's just me?

AJesteram

Hmmm interesting. We're actually not going to be helping out that much since the wedding is in March...everything has already been taken care of. Her aunts are going to be doing a luncheon type of thing for us the weekend before the wedding though.

Anyways thanks for the input...I don't really see what the point of it is either. I agree that it does seem unnecessary.

kmcvicke

Having  "wedding house party" is mostly a southern tradition. Its basically awknowleging the important people without having them stand with the bride & groom.  We are having one since my fiance and I have been in around 18 weddings and we dont want 18 bridesmaids. So, I will have only a maid of honor and he will have a best man. The "house party" will be in the front row and will be named in the program and we will get them all a small gift of appreciation. We are having a private wedding and a public reception so they will pretty much be our only guests to the ceremony outside of immediate family.

In short, its a way to include/honor you in the wedding without having you stand with the bride. Its popular with small weddings.

buddysmom80

WTF IS THIS ZOMBIE THREAD????

COOL STORY BRO.

Swazzle

kmcvicke said:

Having  "wedding house party" is mostly a southern tradition. Its basically awknowleging the important people without having them stand with the bride & groom.  We are having one since my fiance and I have been in around 18 weddings and we dont want 18 bridesmaids. So, I will have only a maid of honor and he will have a best man. The "house party" will be in the front row and will be named in the program and we will get them all a small gift of appreciation. We are having a private wedding and a public reception so they will pretty much be our only guests to the ceremony outside of immediate family.

In short, its a way to include/honor you in the wedding without having you stand with the bride. Its popular with small weddings.

First of all, this thread is from February 2011. 

Second of all, I feel included and honored just to be invited to a wedding. I don't need some random fake title. 

And lastly, weddings are not tit-for-tat. Just because you were in someone's wedding doesn't mean you have to ask them to be in yours. that's just silly. 

tuarceatha

buddysmom80 said:

WTF IS THIS ZOMBIE THREAD????

COOL STORY BRO.

lol

CASK85

I love that I had a snarky-ass response to this almost 3 years ago.

Elle1036

I was really excited to see a post from Jester, and then I looked at the dates. Wow.

motoLyn

cschiano said:

sounds a little like getting stuck doing the bitch work with a pretty title. 

^This..... never heard of it and all I can think of when I hear houseparty is a keg stand.

Edit to add: WTF is this thread here for, I just saw a post from Abigail and was like WHOA she's been gone a looooong time.

thejucheidea

Almost three years in the past, but as someone who has lived below the Mason-Dixon line for nearly her entire life, I've never heard of this 'house party' bullshit. When I saw 'house party', I immediately thought 'kegger', not 'wedding'.