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- Alexis Alvarez
3 Reasons You Shouldn't Have a Large Bridal Party
I was a terrible bridesmaid. Ugh. It’s true. Sorry Jen! I will forever blame the fact that I was 19 and had no idea what it meant to be a bridesmaid other than I got to wear a pretty dress & stand up at the wedding ceremony. I waited too long to buy my dress and shoes. I didn’t check that the dress still fit until a few days before the wedding and had lost weight, so there was a rush to get the dress altered & with no time left, my mom did the best she could to bring it in, but there was a gap in the fabric of the dress that we were desperately trying to hide in photos. I didn’t take the day off of work for the bachelorette party. THE WORST. But besides general stress, bridesmaids and groomsmen can significantly enhance or taint your overall wedding planning experience. Here are 3 reasons you shouldn’t have a large bridal party.
The larger the bridal party, the more chasing around you’re going to do. So let me start with an unpopular truth: most people don’t care about your wedding as much as you do. I know it hurts, but people have their own lives and as excited as your friends/cousins/sister/brother might be to celebrate you, the details of your wedding are not on their mind as much as you think it is. So between buying dresses & shoes, getting alterations, planning your bridal shower & bachelorette party, booking a hotel room, getting to the rehearsal & hotel on the wedding morning on time… a smaller bridal party will no doubt cut down your stress of keeping track of who has done what.
The larger the bridal party, the more money you’re going to spend. Standard expenses for each bridal party member include a bouquet or boutonniere, at least 1 gift (sometimes 2 if you’re getting creative about asking), usually hair and/or make up service for bridesmaids, and transportation. A smaller bridal party will always help your end budget.
The larger the bridal party, the longer the day. Hair service usually takes 45 minutes per bridesmaid and make up usually 30 minutes. Plus account for the travel/corralling time for 15 people and it’s pretty easy to see that a smaller bridal party will only help in you not having to be up at 6am on the wedding morning.
I know you love the idea of having all of our siblings, closest friends, & cousins play a special role in your wedding, but just having them there on that day to celebrate with, will be enough. Keeping your bridal party small, is a great way to cut your stress leading up to the wedding day.
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