Pros & cons of large bridal party.

I originally had 5, but when we decided on a DW, 2 dropped out. And as much as I love them, and will miss them (and wish they were there!), 3 is so much easier to work with. My sister is my MOH, and my FSIL and my friend are bridesmaids. The closest one to me lives 3 hours away, and my FSIL lives 4500 miles away, but it is still super easy I might make one of my brothers a Bridesman, but because I am working with family, it is super easy to accommodate and everyone is on the same page. 9 would be overwhelming I think. 5 was a the most I could handle! (but thats just me!)

I have 7 bridesmaids. I had 6 and I added an extra because she wanted me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding next week and I had a moment of weakness when she asked me repeatedly if I had picked my bridal party. It is expensive and a little more stressful dealing with multiple types of personalities, but I have important women from all parts of my life-- including two matrons of honor and a maid of honor because I played/will play the same role in their wedding. For the most part with one exception, they have been very supportive, flexible, timely and spoil me rotten.

And I will spoil them rotten with gifts before and after my wedding. And I hope I'll stand in all of their weddings also. I love being a bridesmaid personally, despite the cost-- I think its an amazing experience.

The cost is a big factor, another big one is that it is difficult to have multiple girls agree on one dress (if you want them all in the same dress), and coordinating events with your bridal party. Also if you want them to coordinate planning events or helping you plan (if they want to of course because they don't have to) you may get a lot of arguments arising from all the different POVs.

I have one person in my bridal party, I chose to have this for many reasons. I don't agree with asking my friends to spend a bunch of money to celebrate my day so I wanted to pay for the dresses, make-up, hair, etc, I couldn't afford to do this for multiple people. I know it's the norm but if I could I'd rather pay for those things myself, this way I don't feel bad about telling them what to wear. Also, it was a lot easier to coordinate the dress with my friend because she was the only person whose opinion mattered besides mine. Another reason is that I'm having a pretty small wedding (70-75 guests) and I wanted the bridal party to be proportional to the guest list.

Edited to add: A big PRO for a big bridal party are your pictures, you can do more creative pictures with more people. A new thing (for example) is to have your bridal party in different shades of a colour and line them up accordingly, can't do that with just one person in your bridal party.

There are no pros. The bigger the bridal party the more problems you might encounter. Plus its expensive. I'm having 5 adults and a junior, and I think that's too much :/ but that also could have something to do with the fact that there will be also be 6 kids in the party.

I'm in the early planning stages for my wedding next year. I originally wanted 6 Bridesmaids (my 2 sisters, SIL, and 3 friends) but then my FH realized he doesn't have enough really close dudes to fill up his side (no brothers, only a few close friends). I don't want him to frantically run around trying to reconnect with old friends, plus i think it will be overall easier for me with just 4 (only picking 1 friend out of the three) because my friends and sisters all have different personalities. Not to mention cost.

So I'm sticking with my original idea of four! (also, I'm weird about symmetry in photos and I love the look of even bridesmaids!)

While bridesmaids are not props, I do love how big bridal parties look in photos-- I'll admit that.

It's cheaper and a lot less stressful in my opinion. I have 5 but only wanted three. FH wanted five. Happy compromising!

The only thing that I would worry about your friends getting ready with you if they are not bridesmaids is your day's schedule. You don't want them coming to get ready at 11am if the ceremony isn't till 5 and have them sit around waiting while you go take pictures or something. Other than that, I think having them be guests would be fine. They can still attend the shower and bachelorette party. I am having friends that are not standing up in the wedding invited to each of my pre-wedding events.

It would be easier to coordinate a smaller group, cheaper for you and for them, and all around easier to have a smaller bridal party. So unless you have a friend that is dead set on being a BM, I don't think you would have a problem if you stuck with just family in the bridal party.

I only have 4 and deciding the bridesmaid dresses has been more drama then deciding to get married!! I couldnt imagine a larger bridal party. Everyone is different body styles, has different budgets, is local to the wedding, feels conformable with ordering online, the color of the dress... i could go on and on....

Im already buying one of my bridesmaid's dresses... she will pay us back after the wedding.......

Three words to sum it up.

TOO MUCH DRAMA

ETA- End rant. :o)

Pros: looks great in pictures and as a bridesmaid, it's easier to split the cost of shower/Bach party with more people.

Cons: everything everyone has said about scheduling and drama and money for you to spend in gifts etc. I attended a wedding where there were 10 bridesmaids and it felt like FOREVER for everyone to walk down the aisle. That was half the ceremony, really. I also felt like there was hardly anyone in attendance since there were 20 people in the bridal party.

I'm having six, because FH had already decided on six and we wanted to keep it equal. It's five girls and one guy, the two MOHs I went to highschool with, two BM are FSILs and two are newer friends. Well, she's a new friend for me, but FH went to highschool with her. I'm not expecting any drama to be honest as they are all grown ups and I don't associate with people that create drama I'm not expecting anything from them besides standing up with me. I'm gonna let them choose their own dress in the colour that FH and me will pick. I might be proven wrong down the line, but right now I hope it will go smoothly.

I did my sister and 2 FSIL's. It's been easy and simple all the way. And I paid for their dresses which has cut down on any possible drama. They do have to go buy their shoes since they need to try them on. I told them 1920's inspired shoes with a heal no taller than 2 inches. They keep sending pictures of high heeled shoes. LOL...I send pictures giving them examples. They send more pictures of shoes with high heels. I send the first pic, I get the second pic back.

I am just having my two SILs as my bridal party. FH is only having my brothers and his brother for his side. It seems like so far it is super easy to get everyone on the same page.

I have 4 adults, one junior bridesmaid and a flower girl. It's costly as far as gifts. It's a hassle coordinating all those schedules. Also as someone else said, some girls don't get along (like two of mine). Sometimes it's not worth the stress

@Jacqui722 my bridesmaids vary in age from a few that are 25, a couple that are 27, then SILs are 30 & 34. They are all super easy going. I would let them pick their own dress (mismatched but in a color scheme). I know working with gals in 3 states would be hard as it is. Plus 4 of them have kids. I think I'm already expecting some of them to not be able to come to any festivities, but they don't have to. I would just want them to be happy with me. As far as gifts go, I was imagining jewelry & getting ready robes. Even if I had just a few BMs I wouldn't be able to budget hair & make up for them, even tho I would really like to. Thank you everyone for the advice! I need to see what FH thinks about it all. All in all, I'm just worried to hurt a long term friends feelings because when we were little girls we said we would be BMs for each other.. It's silly, but I just never want someone to feel I forgot them or anything.

View Quoted Comment Hi! For renting the conference room to get ready on the day of your wedding, did you run into any issues with guests checking into the hotel and seeing anyone beforehand? With conference rooms you don’t have bathrooms, etc. Thanks!

I have 7 including 2 bridesmen. Everything was budgeted for and told ahead of time, we have a group chat where we talk daily (most of them already knew each other) and its been great. I know my experience isn’t everyone’s though so it really depends on your relationships with everyone and how well everything can be coordinated. Good luck!

I have 7. I started with 5 but I added two recently for reasons... But you have to consider that is 7 personalities that might not get along. Two bridesmaids are my FHs family so they have pre existing relationships. However I have 5 other people who don't really overlap in social circle. So you have to consider their personalities. As others have said it's expensive buying accessories for my bridal party has been expensive that's for sure. It's great to have lots of love with you on your big day. And I am so grateful to have everyone standing with me. However those are just things to consider.