Beach wedding

You don't need a bridal party (maid of honor, bridesmaids, best man, groomsmen, flower girl, etc.) regardless of wedding size.

The reception is the bride and groom's way of thanking guests for attending their ceremony, so it's typical to have some thing. It doesn't have to be elaborate. It can be cake and punch or some appetizers (as long as it isn't during a mealtime).

Our wedding is June 8...we are getting married with just family, around 35 people on the beach. My daughter with be my maid of honor and my FH son will be his best man. My granddaughter will be the flower girl and my two sons are walking me to my FH.

View Quoted Comment Thank you!!

Hey Stephanie! You can totally go without a bridal party if you wish! It's not a necessity.

Hey! Our wedding will be about 55 people. We will each have 6 people standing with us, he has a lot of brothers and I have a lot of close friends. You can have however many you want, no matter the size! We personally discussed adding a 7th because each of us had a 7th person in mind, but we decided it was too much with such a small wedding for us personally, but I wouldn't judge it if I saw someone else do it! I think one or two people or no people at all is totally fine! Are you planning on a bridal shower and bachellorette party? If so, just make sure you are communicating with the women around you about cost (and time/effort expectations) for these things if they did not agree to be a bridesmaid and you still want them to plan showers/attend parties. Are you paying for the bachellorette? Splitting it? Are your parents paying for the shower? Be upfront so they know what to expect and if they can afford to say yes.

I have had a few people tell us it would be totally acceptable to do something earlier in the day and just offer coffee, tea, and desserts afterwards because of our size, but I think we will be opting for a dinner. (Unprompted, I said our size and they said "Oh, that's nice! So just tea and coffee after then? as if it was expected.) My understanding is that if it's around dinner time, people want dinner.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your response! Wow your wedding sounds like it will be amazing! So my mom will be paying for just about all of the wedding. Fiancé and I talked about it and we will probably just do a engagement party later this year. We were also thinking about having just one maid of honor and one best man and my 14 year old daughter and his nephew! Does that sound ok? Is 14 still a Jr. Bridesmaid? We are planning on a 5pm summer wedding so will also book a place for a dinner after for those there.

So I just got married on the beach and had 55 people. I had my daughter as my MOH and my FH had his BF stand for him. It was small and intimate. We opted for a big party afterwards but you don’t have to do that. I would say if people are coming to celebrate with you that you should have something for them even if it’s small. Depending on the time of day maybe cake and coffee or a small luncheon. Just my 2 cents.

I'm doing an intimate beach ceremony as well... but with 16 people. We aren't having bridesmaids/groomsmen, but maybe if you each had 1 person that would be good. What we are doing (because it is destination and people are paying a lot to come join us) we are doing a plated dinner reception at a nice restaurant on the beach. I would say you need to have some kind of reception or dinner if people are paying for hotels/airfare.