Any significance of having a bridal party?

Not having a bridal party is fine. Or if your siblings are walking in your wedding, you could consider them your bridal parties. However, if you have already asked people, it could well be a friendship-ending move to unask them. Obviously, if they don't get their attire in time, they could only attend as guests. But I'd be reluctant to just get rid of all of them.

Totally your choice. We didn’t either. Still no regrets.

Did you already ask people when you had the May date? Not including them now in the reschedule may hurt a lot of feelings.

I’m only having my sister and he’s only having his 2 brothers. First off I literally have only 4 really good friends/relative. He has 9 guys he’s wants. The numbers are off. Secondly it’s too much money and waiting on friends to get suits/dresses just not worth the stress. Plus most of his friends live in Another state. Don’t feel like hunting them down for suit sizes. Just silly for them to walk up the aisle and pics. Who cares. So we are keeping it basic with the small sibling wedding party.

Not having a bridal party is fine. Having a bridal party, postponing, and kicking them all out of your wedding is not.

We decided not to have a bridal party. My brother and his wife got married in 2014 and didn't have one; they haven't regretted it. These are my reasons:

1. We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by not picking them.

2. We are in our mid-30's and I don't really want to ask anyone to shell out the cash, especially now.

My fiance's fam is HUGE and he has 5 brothers and sisters and I have 3. We decided not to choose siblings to avoid the drama of hurt feelings if one of them doesn't get chosen, but even with using just friends instead, he wanted 5 groomsmen. I let that be one of the things he got to choose since I get to choose almost everything else. 😂 Honestly, it was a little hard to come up with 5 bridesmaids though!

View Quoted Comment 100% this.


Also, to directly address some of your points: 1. It isn't the bridal party's job to help you plan the wedding. My bridal party did 0 planning for my wedding other than providing input on their attire. 2. This is why people are often encouraged to only ask people to be in their bridal party if they are really close and important to you and not to just try to meet a certain number. Yes, relationships may change, but that is less likely (but not impossible) if you are asking people who you have had a sustained close relationship with. 3. Your situation may differ, but since you said you both have large families, I don't think so. For my wedding, the family photos took the most time (and neither of us have large families). We took maybe a handful of posed bridal party photos, and most of them were while getting ready actually. 4. This is what Caytlyn addressed. If you already asked them, it's rude to ask and then retract it. This may have an impact on your relationships with these people. 5. I don't really have anything to add for this.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your input!

View Quoted Comment This is very true. Do you think since the wedding is postponed and they don’t have their attire yet, it can be done in a tactful way that wouldn’t destroy relationships? With the virus there’s a chance I may have to lessen the guest count.. while I would still invite them, do you think having a smaller wedding would seem more “acceptable” or “expected” to not have a bridal party?

View Quoted Comment Do you think since the wedding is postponed and they don’t have their attire yet, it can be done in a tactful way that wouldn’t destroy relationships? With the virus there’s a chance I may have to lessen the guest count.. while I would still invite them, do you think having a smaller wedding would seem more “acceptable” or “expected” to not have a bridal party?



The goal is not to be rude.. I just really don’t see the point of the added stress and expense of having a bridal party when there will be no bachelorette party and needed help with planning. I really don’t care about having pictures with them either?

View Quoted Comment How did you go about choosing your bridesmaids?

View Quoted Comment I don’t think there’s any way to tell your friends that you no longer want them in your wedding since you don’t need their help planning and they aren’t throwing you any parties.

View Quoted Comment So what exactly is the point of having a bridal party if it’s not to help plan and support? Maybe I’m unaware of their function.
The goal is not to be rude in asking them not to be in it, but I just really don’t see the point of the added stress and expense of having a bridal party when there will be no bachelorette party and needed help with planning. I really don’t care about having pictures with them either? And If there’s no bridal party at all, I won’t have to worry about asking some to not be apart and having others be apart of it.

View Quoted Comment I don’t think you’re understanding my point (or even trying to understand). I wouldn’t be telling my friends that “I no longer want them in my wedding since I don’t need their help planning and they aren’t throwing me a party”... I’m trying to reduce the stress of having to postpone the wedding and I think cutting out a bridal party can reduce the stress, given that they aren’t adding anything essential to my wedding. I’m considering just not having a bridal party at all (not just choosing some to be in it and kicking some out) and I figured maybe they will be understanding given the circumstance.
Exactly what is the reason for the bridal party? Maybe I’m missing some important function that they have for the wedding...

View Quoted Comment Well, historically, the purpose of bridesmaids was to fool evil spirits trying to curse the marriage/confuse any invaders trying to steal the bride. Groomsmen were to help the groom fight in the event of an attack. Nowadays, the purpose is just to honor certain people in your life. It's really just a sign of love and friendship saying, "I want you up there and sharing that special moment with me and my future spouse." That's why un-asking is rude. You're basically saying "eh, changed my mind, you're not as important to me as I thought." You may be able to play off the postponement as a "change in vision," but I would still expect some hurt feelings. Also, I just may have gotten lucky, but I don't think my bridal party caused me any added stress throughout the planning process. Actually, quite the opposite. The day of the wedding, when last minute hiccups kept happening, they were the ones keeping me calm and helping me put out fires. I chose women who had been close friends to me for 10-15 years, so these were people I couldn't imagine not being involved in such a big moment in my life. I think that's the key. When you choose people just to have them, you run a higher risk of added stress and drama. If it's people who you deeply care for and the feeling is mutual, I think the chances of drama are lowered.

View Quoted Comment If you already asked friends to be in your wedding party, there will likely be hurt feelings that they’re no longer included in your wedding. My bridesmaids didn’t help us plan and aren’t throwing any parties. But if I now said hey, I’m not having a bridal party, I can guess that our friendship would likely end.

View Quoted Comment Well, we've been together for 5 and a half years, and we've been talking about marriage for like, 3 of those years, so I had a lot of time to think about it. My very best friend was always going to be my MOH, and I had one other friend (my college roommate) that I've always known I would want to ask. When choosing the rest, I took into consideration the groomsmen and which of them had SOs that were also my friends. Turns out, there are 2. So they will be actual couples walking. That only left one, so I chose one of my newest close friends. It took a lot of discussion between my fiance and I because I'm terrible at making decisions. 😂

View Quoted Comment Hm, I understand what you’re saying. I guess it’s just a matter of perspective because i can’t imagine me deciding not to have a bridal party would relay the message “eh, changed my mind, you’re not as important to me as I thought”. I think if I let some of them go and keep some that could possibly come across as some feeling less significant than others, but i wouldn’t have a bridal party at all. I appreciate you sharing your perspective. Thank you

View Quoted Comment Hm, that’s unfortunate. I don’t think my bridal party would react the same way considering most are family and understanding. Thank you for sharing your perspective.