I have six bridesmaids... eight if you include the junior bridesmaids... ten if you include the honorary attendants. I digress -- this post is about the six core girls that will be walking down the aisle in front of me with matching dresses and bouquets.

I'll briefly introduce each of them below, but you'll see that they are from all over the country and play varied roles in my life. While each of them is special to me, not all of them know each other, the ones who've met might not know each other well, and the ones who knew each other best in college might not have stayed in contact in the four years that have passed.

I came up with an email icebreaker for all of them to share basic personal information, bridesmaid/wedding stuff, and answer some random, fun questions (i.e. what they would do if they won the lottery, what kind of animal would they be and why, and what's their ideal vacation spot). The answers are still coming in, but I think my bridesmaids are learning a lot about each other -- and I'm learning new things about them, too!

Without further ado, I give you my BMs, in the order that I met them:

-- Ms. S from Alabama: My roommate throughout college, except for sophomore year when I had a wretched experience with another person -- but I've blocked that out. Anyway, God matched us up perfectly, and I love this girl dearly. I would trust her with my life. Literally, we even shared a joint checking account to pay our bills the last few years of college. If that's not trust, then I don't know what is! If I didn't have my older sisters serving as honorary attendants, then Ms. S would be my maid of honor hands down. She might be relieved that she doesn't have to do a toast... but I might ask her to do one anyway. ;-)

-- Mrs. R from Massachusetts (currently in Florida): We served on dorm council together our freshman year of college, and we pretty much annoyed each other the entire time. Then, sophomore year, we realized how alike we were --- both ESTJs, lol -- and started hanging out more often. We've spent many hours bonding over random girls' nights, crazy guy experiences (before we both met "the one," of course), and now discussing marriage counseling and wedding planning.

-- Ms. A from Mississippi: We met through Mrs. R. We were also in the same dorm, and Ms. A's roommate used to style my hair. However, Ms. A was so quiet and focused that I had no idea what a wild child she was inside. Okay, I'm exaggerating. Ms. A is one of those friends who knows how to make the best of any situation. In fact, the night that I left Atlanta for good, when everything in the apartment was packed, Ms. A and I slept on a leaking air mattress and used Ms. S's graduation robe as a blanket.

-- Ms. K from Connecticut (currently in Michigan): We've been neighbors throughout graduate school, and we're the closest thing you can get to roommates while still living alone. We have movie nights, borrow things, check out weird noises/shadows, and recently we've started cooking together sometimes. If it weren't for Ms. K, my graduate school experience would have been horrible, especially my first year when we took the statistics class from Hades! Lu has even said that he's glad Ms. K's a woman because if she were a guy, he'd be extremely jealous of our relationship.

-- Ms. L from Virginia (currently in Michigan): I met Ms. L on a recruiting trip for graduate school. I think I did a pretty good job recruiting because she joined my department the next year. I can't remember whether or not I was assigned to be Ms. L's official mentor, but I've definitely taken her under my wing. Somewhere along the way, we transitioned from mentor/mentee to really great friends. I love Ms. L because in addition to being thoughtful and genuine, she's so randomly unexpected. Ms. L can do equally well at sports trivia and Disney trivia... and also does everything from decorate cakes to scrapbooking.

-- Ms. N from DC (currently in Michigan): I've known Ms. N for the least amount of time in years -- only since 2008 when we met at a(nother) recruitment/grad school information meeting -- but she's one of those people who you feel like you've known forever. She truly embodies the motto "work hard, play harder." When you're around Ms. N, you just can't help but to feed off of her positive energy and passion for life. Ms. N has been a huge advocate of not only Lu and I currently, but also our futures. I still smile every time she calls me "Dr. A-Dot" or Lu "Pastor."