Bridal Party- How big is too big?

Over my wedding career I have seen bridal parties ranging in size from just one- three people all the way up to forty plus. To me this has always been one of "those issues" a hushed issue that no one really wants to talk about for fear of offending the bride and groom. And honestly I do believe that it is a very personal decision for someone to make, but because I have been asked my opinion on the subject in the past- I will simple share my personal feelings on the subject. In my opinion it really comes down to simple mathematical ratios- and I feel that your bridal party should not extend past 15% of your total guest list. For example if you have a guest list of 150 people and you have 15 bridesmaids and groomsmen (for a total of a 30 person bridal party not including any flower girls or ring bearers- which is another factor entirely.) That means that 20% of the guests that will be attending your wedding- will be in the wedding- and for me, once it is broken down like that it just sounds disproportionate. Whereas take a guest list of 300 with the same size bridal party, that would make the bridal party count for 10% of your guest list- a percentage that in my mind sounds a little better.

Again, there are always exceptions to this rule, if you are one of six girls and you have five best friends that you have known all your life and you happen to only have 100 guests coming to the wedding then I am not suggesting you try and cut anyone out for fear of being disproportionate. Back in the day the bridal party was expected to do more work for the actual wedding so it made sense to have larger bridal parties to add more workers to the overall mix. Now a days you aren't necessarily having your bridal party over to assemble your invitations or put together bouquets or favors, you are paying a professional to do that stuff for you- and in fact can be quiet an overall cost. Keep in mind that for every member of the bridal party you are looking at one more person to keep track of, one more floral piece, one more gift bag and one seat at all pre/ post wedding gatherings (including mani pedis, rehearsal dinners, hair and make up etc.)-all that added together (plus the added time you will spend calling, texting, e-mailing and generally stressing about organizing people) for the averaged wedding can get pretty costly when you break it down like that. So if by inviting only 100 people you were hoping to save some money- you are probably doing yourself more harm by having a larger bridal party than a larger guest count.

Yet again I am simple stating my opinion- if one of the three most important factors in your wedding is that you have everyone that you want standing up there with you then by all means more power to you- completely ignore this particular post. But if you are really on the fence about the subject and want advice my rule of thumb is to keep the bridal party smaller and not to extend past 10- 15% of the overall guest list.