Q.
I am fortunate to have many close girlfriends. However, a friend said she thought that it might be tacky to have more than 5 bridesmaids. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out, but I wouldn't want to have more bridesmaids than groomsmen. Is it appropriate to have as many as 8-10 bridesmaids?
A.
It's not necessarily tacky, but things can get out of hand if the wedding party is too big. For one thing, you'll want to be sure there aren't more people standing up at the altar than are sitting in the pews! It's true that you want your wedding party to be somewhat proportionate to the size of your guest list. Also take into consideration the size of your ceremony site -- will everyone fit up front? And last, consider the logistics -- finding a dress (or even a few styles) that ten women will like, making sure everyone gets fitted, and so on. Even the closest of friends sometimes find their relationships strained over this sort of thing. All that said, the truth is, the number of bridesmaids you have is solely up to you. If you have 10 dear friends and you want them all to stand up for you at the wedding, so be it. And it really doesn't matter if you have more women than men in the wedding party; symmetry is not required. Also consider this -- you can have your bridesmaids (and groomsmen too) walk in the procession and then simply sit in a row in the first pew. They don't have to stand up the entire time. (You and your groom will probably want to have your maid of honor and best man standing next to you however.) This way, everyone you want to honor gets honored, but it won't get too crowded.
See More: Your Bridal Party , Choosing Wedding Attendants , Bridesmaids , Basics for Bridesmaids
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tieshamarie
I have 7 bridesmaids and my little sis as my moh... and my fiance has 6 groomsmen and 2 best men. (And that is the narrowed down group of people... there are still some girls who may not be so happy they didn't make the cut :/ ) I've been getting the "omg that's too many" from lots of people... but at the end of the day I have many dear friends that have been there for me for over 18 years and I couldn't imagine not sharing my special day w/ them.
HeySteve&Grace
Im having a maid of honor, 3 bridesmaids, 5 junior bridesmaids, 4 flower girls and 2 ring bearers... I love children and work in the nursery at my church. I couldn't imagine not having kids in the wedding and at the wedding.
alexanderj1
i started with wanting 9 bridesmaids, and my FI, mom, and sister all freaked out telling me that was too many. however, none of them could help me cut it down below 8. i am a social butterfly, and have many close friends from many different groups. my FI as well has plenty of guys to be groomsmen. it turns out that we're bumping the number up to 10 because my FI couldn't choose between 2 of his friends. we decided it's more important for us to include who we want to include than to worry about what other people think about our wedding.
jennychavers01@yahoo.com
I am having three and for the size of my wedding that is plenty for me. I kept it to my sister as MOH and my two best friends as the others. It can get sticky though when other girls think they should be in the wedding but you didn't ask them.
RachAisle
I'm glad to see this - I'll likely have 6 + a junior bridesmaid, and have been feeling self-conscious about it. Hubby-to-be wants to have about the same # of groomsmen. I don't want people to think we're being obnoxious, but it seems like this many will work out really well for us in terms of the particular people we really want as attendants. I really like the idea of letting most of them sit down during the ceremony - that eases my worries!