No Bridal Party?

I haven't and don't believe I will experience this, but I've witnessed many couples negate having a bridal party altogether. You don't have to have one. If they want to still help you with your wedding details, awesome! They can still act as witnesses on your day, sitting in the audience.

I am not having one besides a MOH (my sister) and BM (FH's oldest friend from grade school). We didn't think it was necessary. And it's less of a headache and cheaper because you don't have to buy gifts!

Friends come in package deals? Why, are they all in the same group? Are you on the same level with all of them?

You don't have to have a BP. I'm only having a MOH and Best Man because they're our witnesses. But if you want them, and if they're going to be buying a dress or suit to attend the wedding anyway, why not make the BP more casual? In the sense that they all get their own dresses and suits in the same colour from a department store. They'll look nice without spending too much and you'll get to have them by your side.

My FH has four fraternity brothers he is close to. He wanted to only choose one to be a GM, but knew others would have been hurt. He ended up deciding to have them be ushers at the ceremony but not in the bridal party. No one's feelings were hurt, they all understood the situation.

You don't have to have a BP. If it weren't for FH and I having our teenagers stand with us at our wedding, we would not have one either. Totally up to you if you have one or not.

Wow! What kind of friend gives an ultimatum - "me AND X in the wedding party or we are no longer friends!!" I would say if these people are truly your friends they would be happy to be asked and should not be concerned with who else is or is not in the wedding party.

If you want to include in the wedding party those who cannot afford dresses, tuxes, etc. Maybe you want to make the ceremony more casual? Nice dress in one of several colors and for the guys Dockers or nice jeans with a colored dress shirt. You all can give the ties as a gift.

It can be done but you may have to bend a little. You can still have a more formal reception if you wish, just put in some touches that upgrade the elegance a bit.

You don't have to have a bridal party! In hindsight I wish I would not have had one. But if you do feel like it then you could make the attire and the bachelor and bachelorette parties more laid back. I'm a homebody, and had a lot of fun just having girls over at my house, doing makeup and nails trial runs for the wedding, and playing Cards Against Humanity and catching up.

Im not having a bridal party! I knew I wasn't before he proposed lol. Its just about me and FH. And plus it saves my friends and family stress and money.

You definitely do not need one! It may save you some headaches down the road, trust me on this one!

You will want to think of a witness if you need that, or maybe just one MOH and one best man like others suggested, in case you want someone up there with you to hold your flowers during the ceremony, get dressed with, etc.

Just talk to your friends maybe they can budget it in

I'm not having a bridal party and didn't even entertain having one. I have a lot of friends and didn't want to go through the hassle of picking a dress for BM's to wear. I just want the day to be about me and my fiancé

If i could change anything about this whole wedding experience it would be to NOT have a BP. I love my girls but I think it would have just been better with 1 BM versus 5

We are just having a MOH and BM, so as not to ruffle feathers and because they are truly who we want there.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the input! To answer the question about "package deals" I have two great friends that I want in my BP, but they have another friend who they used to be roommates with in college. This extra friend is friendly to me, but not necessarily someone I want in my BP. I just want to make sure no feelings get hurt. As for the budget, I like everyone's suggestions! I'll give some of these a shot and see how it all goes!!

Someone mentioned having friends participate in the wedding, but not be officially a BM or GM. Is this something you were happy about? Did your friends react well to this? Thanks!

I would just explain that to them so that they understand your reasoning on not wanting them to go broke

You don't want to be in the situation where " oh wait we can't do that because they don't have money" this way you don't have those worries

We're not necessarily having a bridal party - just a witness for each (MOH/BM). My FH and I just don't see the need.

I had a "friend" who got angry at me because I didn't choose her to be in my wedding but she put me in hers. I haven't talked to her since she kicked me out because in her words "I didn't return the favor". I feel like if she was really my friend she would have been there regardless of if I was in hers or not. That and my husband and I sat down together and chose our bridal party. Yes, we chose couple except the man of honor and the matron of honor.

It seems like this "extra friend" isn't actually YOUR friend though. I don't see how it would be an issue if you don't ask her to be in the BP. She should understand that even though you're friendly, you're not immediate friends. And the other friends should realize this and not make a deal out of it.