Wedding Planner Q&A – Choosing Bridesmaids
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
Posted in Planning Advice , Wedding Planner Q&A
In our weekly Wedding Planner Q&A we look at how to deal with common anxieties, questions and problems that often crop up when you’re planning a wedding. Today I’m offering advice on how to go about choosing your bridesmaids.
I have six close friends that I’ve known since school. They’ve always been there for me and we’ve shared lots of special times together. I would love for them to be my bridesmaids, but I also have two sisters who I want to be involved in the day. I know I can’t have eight bridesmaids, so who should I choose?
Choosing your bridesmaids is an important decision. You need to be confident that you can rely on them to help you in the run up to the wedding day, and they also need to be able to keep you calm and relaxed on the day itself.
Eight bridesmaids is a large bridal party, but if you’re having a large wedding (e.g. 150 or 200 people) then the numbers wouldn’t look out of place. On the other hand, so many bridesmaids would look unbalanced at a fairly small wedding. When thinking about the number of bridesmaids you would like it is also important to consider the cost implications: remember, each bridesmaid will need a dress, bouquet and transport to the wedding, all of which can take up a significant chunk of your budget.
I would avoid asking only one or two of your friends to be bridesmaids, as this may cause divisions within the group or put a strain on your relationships. It really needs to be all or none! I would suggest asking your sisters to be bridesmaids, and explaining to your friends that ideally you would love them to be involved, but it isn’t practical to have so many attendants – if you’re as close as you say you are then they’ll understand.
If you really want to involve your friends in the wedding then think about their individual personalities and/or talents and look at ways in which you could incorporate these into the day. For example, one of them could give a reading at the ceremony; maybe one or two of them play a musical instrument and could accompany your ceremony entrance and exit; perhaps one of them is artistic and could create a personalised design for your stationery.
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