Pros and Cons of Having a Large Wedding Party
When looking back on your wedding, some of the most memorable moments will be who you spent it with. If you consider the getting ready process, pre-ceremony photos, and dancing the night away, your wedding party is arguably the group of people you’re going to spend the most time with on your big day.
If you’re not sure who you want to include in this group, we put together a list of pros and cons of having a large wedding party to help you determine what’s going to be the best fit for you and your partner.
Pro - Helping Hands: Having a larger wedding party means having more helping hands when it comes to the big day! Need a friend to help you settle into your room the night before? No problem! Want to take on the task of handwriting addresses, grab a wedding party member with neat handwriting skills. This could save a lot of headaches down the road when it comes to small wedding tasks that you can assign to your wedding party.
Con - Cost: When you start to factor in all of the extras that come with your wedding party like thank you gifts, bouquets, boutonnieres, and larger rehearsal dinner costs the extras definitely start to add up. Having a smaller wedding party can be a great way to save when it comes down to your final budget.
Pro - Everyone’s Included: Been in a lot of weddings? Lots of close siblings or cousins? If you’re not sure how some of your friends and family would feel being left out, having a larger wedding party means you can include everyone you feel an obligation to so you don’t have to worry about hurt feelings.
Con - Fizzled out Friendships: Ask yourself, in 20 years from now when you’re looking back at your wedding album is this person still going to be in your life? So many brides and grooms report having falling outs with friends from their wedding party and regret involving them from obligation. If you don’t think the relationship will last, maybe stick to your relationships that will!
Pro - Pre-Wedding Events: If you’re looking for a large engagement party, bridal shower, bachelor or bachelorette party with lots of personalities and celebrations then a large wedding party might be for you! The larger your wedding party is, the more guests and plus ones involved can turn any pre-wedding event into a vivacious party.
Con - Stress: As your wedding party list gets larger, so do the purchases, the planning, the organizing, the personalities and inevitably the stress. Dealing with more people means you’ll have to accommodate more, which can be an added stresser to your own plate.
Pro - Fun Picture Opportunities: With a larger group, you have more of an opportunity to get creative with your pre and post wedding photos! More personalities means more to capture on your big day and looking back on these memories will be priceless!
Con - Logistics, logistics, logistics: Whether you’re talking about planning your bachelor or bachelorette parties, purchasing wedding-day outfits, getting everyone anywhere on time, the larger the number of people you’re ushering, the harder it will be to coordinate and plan.
Pro - Surrounding Yourself with Love: If you’re looking to get ready with a large group of family and friends then a large wedding party might be great for you! You will be spending a huge portion of your wedding morning and day with your wedding party so if you think ‘the more the merrier’ sounds right to you, then we say go for it!
Just remember, at the end of the day your wedding is about you and your future spouse. Every wedding is different and there are no rules telling you what and what not to do - and don’t be afraid to make your own rules along the way. At the end of the day, follow your gut and do what’s right for you and your day will be perfect!