Family being Bridesmaids?

Oops, except for my two grown sons who will be walking me down the aisle. My parents are deceased.

For my first wedding many years ago, we had eight members in the wedding party and only one was a relative (my younger sister). My MOH was my best friend whom I shared a lot of crazy good times with together. Over time, we drifted apart and now only see each other a few times a year if we're lucky. But I don't regret for a minute having her as my MOH. When I look back at those pictures, it is with fond memories of some great times. This time around, out of a WP of eight, all of them are family... but this is simply because I now have four children, a son-in-law, a SIL and a niece. Still no first cousins as I see them even less than my previous MOH

I'm having 5 bridesmaids. My best friend is my MOH (we've been friends since middle school), FSIL is Matron of Honor, and the other three girls are girls I've known since I was 8.

My family is miffed that I am not having my cousins in the wedding (I don't have any sisters - only brothers). When I considered who I wanted in my bridal party, I wanted my friends, plain and simple. My girlfriends are more like family to me than my actual cousins are. Plus, it's my and my fiance's day. When my cousins get married they can choose their own bridal line up but they are not choosing mine.

Don't let anyone bully you into adding bridesmaids unless you actually want them in the wedding. The day is not about them.

All 3 of my SIL are in the bridal party, including my two kids, and four nieces/nephews. My MOH was supposed to be my best friend but she can't do it, so on to the next one!

Thanks for the advice everyone. You're right it is my day. I need to stop caring what other people think.

I only have 3 and they're not family .... well one is my brothers gf but that's it...I don't think ism mandatory...you need to have ppl really close to you.. family or no family

I have 4 friends, and 3 family members in mine (2 cousins, and my sister in law). I'm really close to all 4 of those friends, and I adore my sister in law, and I'm super close to these 2 cousins. I have another female cousin that isn't in it (I'm not very close to her) and this was a big issue at first, but she understood and I asked her to do a reading at the wedding.

I have my Aunt as my BM and my 6 nieces standing up, I wish I didn't because they haven't don't anything to help me. It's very heart breaking. They cry to me about transportation since 2 live in a different state and I have enough stress now I have to figure out how they are getting down here

My BP was all family.

My aunt was my MOH

My cousin was my BM

My Dh's Brother was his BM

My brother was DH'ss Groomsman. We had a small group

But I didn't choose anyone I was not close with. I could have had more. I could have had my SIL but I am not close with her. IMO they should be people your close with whether it's family or friends.

Aside from the BM, our entire wedding party was family...my sister was my MOH, my niece & nephew were FG and RB, my BIL and my FH's brother were ushers. I didn't want to choose friends because I didn't want a large bridal party and I didn't want to leave anybody out & cause hard feelings. Plus, I'm closest with my family....so it was natural for me to pick them. For you, however, it sounds like you are closer with your friends so it is natural for you to choose them to be there with you on your big day. It's all about having people near you that you couldn't imagine not having beside you at that time...so don't worry what others say, go with what means the most for you.

My older sister is my MOH

My bridesmaids:

-BFF from Elementary School

-BFF from High School

-Sorority sister/ College roommate

I wanted someone from every stage of my life.

Right away we picked our wedding party after we were engaged, actually on the flight home from the trip we were on... We said brothers and sisters only. My sister, our sister in-law, and my husbands 2 brothers. It worked out SO great for our casual outdoor wedding.

My bridal party line up is a mix. LOL

I have 2 MOH which is my BFF & my Aunt (She is like a mom to me and raised me after my father passed away)

my bridemaids are 3 of my sisters, 2 of my cousins, 3 of his sisters & one other friend.

My FH groomsman includes his friends and 2 of my brothers and 1 of my uncles

my flower girls are my 2 nieces and my RB is my newphew

My daughter who turned 11 today is my jr BM

and my son who will be 8 turning 9 later that year by the time the wedding rolls around will be a jr GM because he said he wants to stand by my FH side, & he is tired of being a RB everytime someone gets married! LOL!

I believe your bridemaids should be people that you are close with, it could be family or friends. You want to know that these are not only people that you can count on because weddings are a lot, these are the people that truly support you & your union to your FH

I am more half and half. As long as my sisters were in the wedding I was good but I have 2 sisters, 3 sorority sisters, 3 cousins, 2 friends, 1 of his cousins MOH is best friend, and Matron is FH cousin and 1 sister is the jr bride

My Circle is small and not a big family...my best friend is my MOH and no brides maids short and simple I always wanted a small intimate wedding with all the trimmings and thats what i'm getting

MOH is my best friend I've known for over 4 years. (We really hit it off.) One BM I have known since kindergarten. She was my MOH in my first wedding, but she lives far away now and she is expecting, so BM this time around. Other BM is a very good friend who is like my little sister. My oldest daughter is a JBM.

Yes, FH and I caught hell when I did not ask any of his four sisters, two SILs, or five neices to be part of the bridal party. Didn't sway me one bit. I'm pretty obstinate, so when somebody (FMIL) tells me I "should/have/must" do something, I laugh (internally, usually) at them and move on.

My sister is my MOH, and 3 good friends are the BMs. I have a ton of cousins my age, and 3 other sisters. But I am not close with them like I am with my one sister. She is 3 years older than me. It's funny because my sister Kris is only 1.5 years older than me.