Wedding party size

I got married in April and my husband and I each had 7 attendants including our MOH and Best Man. We both have several siblings we wanted to include as well as very close friends, so we landed on 7 each to be able to include everyone who we were very close to.

My husband had six groomsmen, I had six bridesmaids, and we chose two ushers, one ring bearer, and one flower girl. The whole group was a combination of family members and our closest friends.

I only had 3. Those were the ones I could definitely say “these obviously should be bridesmaids.” For friends beyond that, there were a lot at similar levels of friendship where you can’t really justify including one but excluding another. I’ve never liked massive bridal parties anyway, so it worked out well.

My Mother has 10 siblings and my Father has 15 who all have children. I have 3 siblings that have 3-5 children each with some of those that have their own children. I’m very close to all my relatives on both sides. Our party consists of 9 on each side, 1 ring bearer, 2 ushers, 3 flower girls, and my fiancé’s eldest son is walking her down the aisle since her father passed away. I still didn’t include every single person in our party! I’m very blessed to have a big, close-knit family.

We had 4 on each side plus a ring bearer and flower girl. We had family and friends in our bridal party. We didn’t consider going beyond that.

We only did three, and it was very strategic. I have 4 friends (1 had to fly in overseas for the wedding and didn’t want to have the pressure of being in the wedding party, so she attended as a guest – but knew that she is one of my absolute closest people and had the option of standing in the wedding if she wanted to ) that I’ve had most of my life who are my absolute closest people, and everyone knows that. I knew having those individuals in the wedding party would be completely expected by my other friends, and wouldn’t cause any feelings of jealousy or being left out/slighted. I think people really open Pandora’s box when they start having large wedding parties- the larger number of people who are included means a greater chance friends outside of that group are going to feel left out or get angry because they felt like they were as good of, or better, friends with you as the people who were chosen. I always think it’s smart to keep wedding parties small, and limit them to very clearcut circles.

The numbers can easily get up there if you want to include sisters and sister-in-laws or close cousins in addition to a few best friends. Other than expense, I don't see anything you absolutely need to deal with other than consulting and advising on a dress. I kept it simple with just a color and length. Everything else is discretionary.

I only have 5 bridesmaids not sure if my mother law or grandmother would like to have their makeup done but I would pay for them

I only had a maid of honor but originally had been planning to have my sisters be bridesmaids as well as a few friends. Honestly wish I hadn't had had any attendants at all, it was too much of an issue when I didn't include someone who thought they should have been included.