Spread the word!
Let’s get right to the heart of the matter and break all those old myths around who should or shouldn’t be in the wedding party. We discuss the importance of including family members like the groom’s sister or bride’s brother in the wedding party, and we cover how many people should be in your bridal party. It’s great to include a lot of friends and family in your wedding party, but remember—-each one is going to cost you $100 or more, depending upon costs in your city.
The following article is an example of the content we have in our online wedding planning membership site HappyWeddings.ca under the heading of Bridal Party. To learn more and get useful wedding planning tools for FREE click here!
You are getting married! You are excited. You are telling everyone you know. They are happy for you, and before you know it, you’ve asked all kinds of people to be in your wedding party, and you haven’t really thought it through. Now you have to figure out what you are going to do with everyone. Then, reality hits. You think, OMG, I forgot to include my own sister! Then, your fiancé’s sister wasn’t asked to be in the wedding party, and the family is not amused.
A funny scenario? Not really. It happens all the time, and it is the source of the biggest people problems you will experience during a wedding. Let’s approach this logically, and start with getting rid of some wedding party myths.
Some people think that the bride’s attendants are her friends and family, and the groom’s attendants are his friends and family. That is not true. A bride’s brother can be a groomsman, and a groom’s sister can be a bridesmaid—and depending upon your family dynamics, it is probably a wise idea to have them there to keep peace in the family.
Some people think that if you choose a wedding party member who is married that you need to include their spouse in the wedding party. Not true. The spouse would, of course, be invited to the wedding, but they do not need to be included in the wedding party. BUT, sometimes, to keep peace in the family, you might choose to include the spouse in the wedding party, or give them a special task like giving a reading at your ceremony.
Some people think that you need to have an equal number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Not true.
Some people think that you can only have one maid of honour, or one best man. Not true.
Some people think that you can’t have an attendant of the opposite sex. Not true. The bride’s best male friend CAN be a Man of Honour, or a Bridesman. The groom’s best female friend CAN be a Bestmaid, or Groomswoman.
And you might be wondering how many attendants you can have. The guideline is that you have one set of attendants for every 50 guests. Saying that, there are no hard and fast rules. The average wedding party is four to six sets of attendants. Remember, the more people in your wedding party, the more money it will cost you—for bouquets, boutonnieres, wedding-party gifts, and rehearsal and wedding reception dinners which also includes their spouse.
If you plan whom you are going to ask to be in your wedding party, almost all potential problems can be resolved before they become actual problems.