7 Totally Valid Reasons to Consider Not Having Bridesmaids on Your Big Day

Updated on 9/23/2018 at 9:20 AM

When my now-husband and I were just a recently engaged couple, we started our planning process by hashing out how we'd each describe our ideal wedding day. Words like "laid-back" and "modern" came up a lot (can you tell we're millennials?), and we agreed that we both wanted the experience to be as stress-free as possible. For us, it was clear that the tradition of including bridesmaids and groomsmen wouldn't fit into the picture we envisioned.

Some friends and family were initially surprised by our decision to skip out on having a wedding party, but we look back at it as one of the best choices we made about our day. Not having to pick out bridesmaids and groomsmen saved us major stress, spared our friends of any potential hurt feelings, and ultimately helped us to create a wedding that felt decidedly low-key. If you and your partner are also on the fence about having a wedding party, read on for some damn good reasons (if I do say so myself!) to consider going without one.

It's One Less Thing to Plan

One of the major bonuses of skipping out on including a wedding party is that it immediately eliminates a few tasks from your extremely long to-do list. Worrying about hunting for bridesmaid dresses, coordinating hair and makeup for the wedding party, and wrangling a huge group for pictures is completely unnecessary once you make the decision to forego bridesmaids and groomsmen.

Ranking Your Friends Sucks

Unless you're prepared to have a massive wedding party that includes every single one of your close friends and relatives (and if you are . . . rock on!), choosing your wedding party is a potential minefield for hurt feelings and damaged friendships. Every relationship in your life is unique and valuable in its own way; you don't have to risk compromising that by ranking your friends for the sake of one day if you don't want to.

Everyone Gets to Feel Equally Included

Wedding parties can create an illusion that there's a hierarchy of guests who are more important than others. Without bridesmaids and groomsmen, everyone gets to feel like their presence at your wedding was no less meaningful than anyone else's.

You Can Still Have a Bachelorette Party

PSA: skipping out on having bridesmaids doesn't mean you have to miss out on any of the fun stuff. Make it known that you still want a girls' trip ahead of your big day and your friends will jump at the chance to get together and celebrate you. All you have to do is ask!

Matching Your Fiancé's Wedding Party Size Is Hard

I know from watching friends and family members go through the wedding planning process over the years that couples rarely have the exact same number of close friends and family members in mind for their wedding parties. You can save yourself the headache of trying to come up with a magic number of people to include that makes you both happy by skipping the wedding party altogether.

Your Friends Get to Wear Whatever They Want

Many of my friends not so secretly admitted that they were relieved they didn't have to purchase another bridesmaid dress for our wedding. This might sound petty, but being able to pick out a pretty dress of your choosing to wear to a wedding, instead of being assigned an unflattering one, is AWESOME.

You’ll Appreciate Your Friendships Even More

Having friends volunteer their time and energy to help us plan our wedding meant so much more knowing that they weren't just doing it because it was another bridal party duty. We walked away from our wedding with a serious appreciation for just how many people we have in our lives who are willing to go the extra mile without needing any special recognition.