Should they stand with us or not at alter?

Pretty much the only purpose of a bridal party is to have them stand with you, but that is definitely an awkwardly large party for the guest size you have. I'd feel pretty stupid having purchased a dress for your wedding and then not even be standing with you for the wedding so I'd say you need to go ahead and have them stand with you.

If you want your bridal party to be in the pictures of your ceremony, then they should stand.

Yeah, i think the standing at the front with you is part of the deal--you've chosen them because you want them up there with you as your witnesses/supporters/champions. we ended up with a biggish WP too, 6 on each side, it worked out well and looked beautiful and it felt so good having them all up there with us. i don't think the size of your guest list makes much difference.

ETA @firstoneat56 is right! you'll get some lovely photos of the whole squad while they're all standing up there with you.

I'd probably be annoyed if I had to buy a dress to be in the wedding, and then was asked to sit for the ceremony. I do TOTALLY understand what you're getting at, because that's a large chunk of your guest list, but I wouldn't ask them to sit.

I think it's fine to have only one person stand with you, and the others can sit at reserved places of honor (like in the front row). I think that is quite common in many church ceremonies anyways.

Your officiant and or wedding coordinator can help you with this.

*altar

*suit

So I'll start my comment with I'm Catholic so my bridal party needs to sit or they will pass out for how long our ceremony will be. I think you can make a bit of a compromise. My party will be up there with me until the end of the first prayer. Then they all go sit. So they are up there for a decent part of the mass without hating me for standing for an hour. Just the best man and maid of honor stay up with us the whole time. I've been in many Catholic weddings and some non Catholic weddings and I always found it awkward to stand in front of a crowd that long. But that's just my view.

I think the key with that size wedding is not the wedding party placement, but the chair arrangement for guests. Definitely ask your venue. We had 64 people and three rows of chairs in a half-moon shape. This made it look very full because nearly all the chairs were taken (just a few extra so people didn't have to split from their SO). I think you will want your wedding party with you and if not then they will be in the front row which is normally reserved for parents.