Bridesmaids - tips for a large bridal party

I had 10. In my case there wasn’t really anything to manage. Those who could attend the shower and bachelorette did, I emailed them all with the color and fabric of dress and let them find whatever they liked on their own time, and I paid for either hair or makeup for them on the day of the wedding. I didn’t do any sort of group chat or try to coordinate them or get them all to be friends because mine were from different times of my life as well.

View Quoted Comment Thank you Kelly! I am thinking my situation will be similar. I have the mentality, “If you can come, that’s great! If you can’t, that’s ok too.” Some of my friends live out of state and some are mothers, so that may be the case that not all can attend things.


Did you also do gifts for them?

View Quoted Comment Yeah my girls were all over the country and quite a few had kids as well. And yes I did pay for either hair or makeup and then a gift card to a place they like along with a handwritten note as their gift!

View Quoted Comment Love that idea!!

I didn't have a large bridal party, but from dealing with my bridal party, I can say I think dealing with that many different personalities would be very tricky. My most difficult person was a tie between my maid of honor (my sister) and the groomswoman. They were a nightmare to deal with. I would recommend allowing them to pick their own dresses. I had picked out their dresses and a week before the wedding my sister decided she hated her dress and I ended up purchasing a new dress for her five days prior to the wedding. With that many people, the one dress isn't going to look good on everyone. I would recommend picking a store that you want them to get the dress from and then tell them a color, length, and fabric and let them pick from there. I also would let them decide on their own if they want to have their hair and makeup professionally done. As for shoes, I just asked my girls to wear a certain color.

I am having 8 girls stand up and I couldn’t agree more! Some is family and the others are best friends from different parts of my life and I couldn’t imagine not asking any of them! I picked out the dress but am going to give them the option to get their hair/makeup done by the women I hired or they can do it themselves but everyone will meet at my parent’s house at the same time so that we can get ready together. Jewelry I am going to leave up to them as long as it’s silver and the rest of my big decisions I bounce of my MOH (older sister) and my mom. If I need to ask the girls anything I make sure to do it in our group chat or email so that no one feels left out. I made sure to introduce all the girls together (since many of them hadn’t met at that point due to living in different states). Whenever I can I try to get everyone together to hang out so that my best friends can also become friends and I have really felt really stress-free about my bridal group! I really think the key is to make everyone feel included by communicating and listening to your friends. Sometimes people can be difficult and when you have a larger group you're balancing more personalities, but since you seem like you really value your friends I don’t think you’ll have any problems good luck and have fun!!

View Quoted Comment Thank you!!

View Quoted Comment Thank you! I appreciate the feedback!

View Quoted Comment All of these are excellent points? Avoid all the most common points of conflict. And be happy for what each can do and is interested in doing.
Especially for BP who are not an old high school or work group, many brides think of their people as a group. But the bridesmaids see themselves as individuals, with separate relationships with the bride. Efforts to make them into a cohesive group often lead to a lot of conflicts. This free and easy attitude is what I appreciate most in large bridal parties. Those choosing what they can do, not a lot of scheduling issues, not too many at dress shopping, all looking to get different body types in flattering styles. If you know them all to be basically adults who will follow through with dressing themselves with guidelines, then as bride you lose a lot of common stressful things. My bridal party stepped up and took care of dresses, getting ready issues. All looked great, no stress on them or me. They were far away so I did not see them all engagement except one shower I traveled to. Yet everything was ready and smooth for the wedding itself.

View Quoted Comment ThAnk you for the advice!!!