No bridal party - anyone?

You do not need a party. A friend of mine got married in her 20's and decided not to have a bridal party so you do not have to worry about expressing that to others. Just flat out say we are getting married, something small and I do not plan on having a bridal party. Now a days people need to respect how one gets married and if they do not like it then they do not have to be a part of it lol. It is about you two and what YOU TWO want.

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That's how I feel, Kristen. I've even read that a lot of younger people are opting not to have bridal parties these days, so in a way, my fiance and I are "on trend." I do worry about hurting people's feelings, though. But I'd think they'd be glad to just be able to enjoy the wedding, and especially to save the extra money!

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I do not see why anyone would be offended by you not having a bridal party rather having a bridal party and not including some people. That is the best way to put it, you will save money. List I just gave a bridesmaid proposal box to a close friend and I am eloping so we all do things against tradition. I bought it back when we were having a small wedding and I told her that it will just be us 2 because he does not want attention on him but that I wanted her to know that she would be by my side if I were having a wedding and I can still use her help choosing wedding bands, make up trials, etc... She understood and is still happy to help how she can...plus she got some free gifts lol. I think as we get older and experience finances, kids and more we think of things differently. I think it will be ok and if not slap them in the face. :p

We are 24 and won’t be having a bridal party! Our close friends all understand and are actually happy they can wear what they want. It’s also more inclusive because I hate labeling and choosing friends I think it’s rude so that’s one of the reasons we decided against it. We want the day to be centered around our love and not make it a big production

I honestly could have had half a dozen people on my side without trying, but instead opted to have my son escort me and stand as my best man. My wife did the same with her son. Not a single person questioned this or made a fuss. While it's always nice to be asked, I think a lot of people are starting to get why some couples choose to not have wedding parties. Once you let people know you have decided this option, they'll just roll with it.

Ah yes I’ve been there, both sides of the fence. I really didn’t want a bridal party (someone’s feelings always get hurt and they’re not really my cup of tea), wanting a more intimate feel. But after a few months, my fiancé decided he reaaaaally wanted one (being an officiant at over 80 weddings and groomsman/best man in almost all his friends’ weddings) and I gave in. Finally last week I was like this is getting out of control- we have 15 people in our bridal party and only 75 people coming. So we decided to only have our matron of honor and best man walk down the aisle and then sit down. Hind sight is 20/20- I think he now regrets wanting to do a bridal party, I know I do! I’m still going to give the gifts even though no one did anything to help, only our best man and matron of honor did. So I say skip it, it’s redic, and a TOTAL waste of money, time and energy. When I had originally told people we weren’t doing it, I think there was a little hurt but people understood and they were 100% fine! No one said anything to me about our decision, and respected it. Remember it’s your day, so enjoy it how YOU want it.

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I'm so glad to see it's not just me! I totally agree that labelling and choosing friends can be rude, and we are super anti big productions (we won't be having first dances, bachelor/bachelorette parties, bridal showers, engagement parties, engagement photos, or bouquet tosses, either). I was a bridesmaid 8 times and I couldn't ask one to stand up with me without asking the others... it's just too much for me when I'm already nervous about walking down an aisle in front of so many people! Plus, my fiance isn't American so he doesn't understand the point of having a bridal party, and wouldn't know what to do if I asked him to choose 8 male friends.

We are getting married in Italy (where we live) and the tradition here is to have two "testimoni" - witnesses; usually siblings or a married couple. They don't stand up with you, they just sign a document at the end of the ceremony. So much simpler and no one pays a dime!

We went this route. We were young (24), but between family and large friend groups, whittling the number to a reasonable one would have been impossible. One of my sisters and my cousin were upset, but all of my friends and my husband's family took it in stride. I think my friends were especially relieved when they realized how much time and money I saved them. Five and a half years later, we are confident we made the correct decision.

I only wanted to have my sister as my maid of honour, and no bridesmaids, but I ended up compromising with my fiance and agreeing to have his younger sisters (16 and 11) as my bridesmaids. I'm not close with them (we're 7 and 12 years apart), but I'm doing it for him.

I have two friends who I think are assuming - or at least hoping - that they will be bridesmaids. I haven't told them yet that I'm just having the sisters. I think having a "rule" like that (only sisters, or no bridal party, etc.) makes it easier for them to understand.

If you want a bridal party or a bachelorette party, you may have to plan them yourselves or clearly delegate the responsibility to someone.

At the end of the day, your close friends can still be a part of your wedding journey, even if they're not standing up next to you. They might even appreciate not having to buy an expensive dress.

I would think having a bridal party would actually take some of the attention away from you because you wouldn't be the only ones standing up there. I have only been to one wedding where they only had a maid of honor and best man. They sat down in the front row because there wasn't enough space for everyone to stand at the front. Without a bridal party, the bride has no where to put her flowers and someone has to carry the rings as well. If you are having to hand off your flowers to someone seated in the front row that is immediately going to draw everyone's attention to just you. As opposed to when you hand flowers to the person you standing behind you you can just quickly hand over the flowers, but with handing them over to someone in the front row you have to leave the spot with your husband walk over to the person you are giving them to and then walk back to your husband all the while everyone is watching you. While bridal parties are definitely option, we selected to have one.

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I won't be having a bouquet, either! ;p

No shade to anyone who chooses to have a bridal party; it was such an honor to be included in my friends' weddings, and I consider myself truly lucky and loved to have been asked 8 times. I had only positive experiences, that I wouldn't trade for anything. It's just not something I want for myself, and since we won't be doing any other traditions - no flowers, no bouquet, no bouquet/garter toss, no first dances, no engagement photos/party, no reception dinner, no bridal showers, no bachelor/bachelorette parties, no ring bearers/flower girls - there isn't really a need to have anyone "do" anything other than show up and enjoy the food.

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If you aren't doing dinner then are you just having a ceremony? It is normally considered rude not to have food after a ceremony, but that is here in America so I am not sure what is customary in Italy. Italy sounds like a beautiful place to get married. I've never been to Italy, but I would love to some day.

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Oh, we're definitely having dinner (I'm a food writer ). I'm American; my fiance is Italian. I really want to elope but my fiance isn't into it. We've reached a compromise; I don't even know if there's a word for what we're planning, but I'm calling it an "elopement with guests, music and food." We both hate being the center of attention so it seems perfect to us ...

View Quoted Comment Oh okay. I wasn't sure because you had said no reception dinner. Your wedding sounds like it might be like a micro wedding which is often shorter simplier with about 20 guests.

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God, I wish. Just my family alone is 50 people!!! I don't think we can avoid it being less than 100 guests, but most of our list is out of towners so that might help keep things more manageable...

View Quoted Comment Oh wow! So you are still having a good number of people just without some of the traditional things like you mentioned. Well I hope you have an amazing day

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I hope so, too! Thank you. I still wish we were eloping but I think in the end we'll be happy to look back on having been able to celebrate with our friends and family while they're all still here (being an older couple, we're aware of our parents no longer being spring chickens...)

I am not having a bridal party and my girls took it really well! We are having a 10 minute ceremony, so there was no need to have people go through buying dresses, etc and no reason for us to have the added expense for it to be over in the blink of an eye. I honestly didn’t get any pushback because we’re in our 30s, incredibly busy, and they will still be a big part of the day just by being there.

We just were honest and told them casually. They seemed relieved 😅 less travel and costs for them.

Honestly, if you don’t have a wedding party nobody should be offended because it isn’t as though you’re choosing someone else over them.


We had a small DW with no wedding party (0 complaints). We also had a local reception. I’ve been in several weddings and the brides were at each event but I don’t think people mind NOT needing to buy a dress, etc.