I have no friends to put in my bridal party!!?

[Marla Singer]

My boyfriend proposed to me in 2012 and I have been putting off the wedding. We decided to get married in 2015 and I am getting really nervous as I don't have friends for my bridal party. My fiancé has HEAPS of friends and I can count all of mine on one hand. None which can be in a wedding! I have one female friend who moved to another state a few years ago and we only talk through Facebook. I asked her to be my maid if honour when I first got engaged but we aren't even close anymore, especially since now she is pregnant and in another state! What should I do?? I don't want to feel and look like a loser on my wedding day! I shouldn't have to ask my fiancées family and friends to be MY bridal party, they should he his!!

[Just Because]

Try looking within your family for potential candidates. Especially within your sisters, cousins, and nieces. Even if you are not close right now, your family will always be your family; and it would be good to rebuild these relationships.

As for your small group of close girlfriends, is there anything you could do to make it possible for at least one of them to be in the wedding? For example, if a girl can't afford to buy a dress, could you buy it for her? If travel expenses are a problem, could you help with that?

Also, I see nothing wrong with asking your fiance's family to be bridesmaids. After all, as soon as the ceremony is over they will be your family too! And his circle of friends will be yours as well. Think about it.

Congratulations and have a wonderful wedding.

[almarj70]

Skip the bridal party all together, its not compulsory

[ChemoAngel]

I didn't either. So I chose Cousins. Do you have any Cousins? How about friends of the family that you would like as a bridesmaid...how about his side of the family? You will NOT Look like a Loser...It is perfectly normal to ask your fiances's family and friends to be in your bridal party. I Did! They were delighted! You are making way too much out of this...

[Grace]

Have you thought about the both of you not having any bridal party? I only have 2 people I'll be putting in my bridal party, my sister and his sister (we have become best friends though). I wouldn't think twice if I went to a wedding without a bridal party.

[lizzie gorman]

I didn't have a bridal party at my wedding, and nobody cared in the least.

Look at all the European royal weddings, the only bridal attendants they usually have are children or none at all - Dutchess Kate was unusual in that she had her sister as an attendant.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/cel...220?page=4

If you take away the children, she had her sister as a bridesmaid, he had his brother as best man, and that was it.

Here are Sophie and Edward:
http://unofficialroyaltyc1.ipage.com/ur/...-group.jpg
He had a best man (his brother) and she had no bridesmaids.

[BeatriceBatten]

You don't need a bridal party.

The point of a bridal party is to honor your closest friends, not to fill a bunch of empty slots or have a popularity contest.

Nobody will think you're a "loser" if you don't have bridesmaids. Most people won't even notice. A few may think, "What a smart person ... she's avoiding all the drama that comes with wedding parties!"

If you were really a "loser," then why would someone have asked you to marry him? Why would a bunch of people be coming to your wedding to wish you well? If you were really a "loser" then you'd have absolutely nobody.

If your fiance is asking people to be groomsmen, then that's fine. You don't have to ask an equal amount of bridesmaids, or ANY bridesmaids ... he can have those groomsmen, and they can stand for BOTH of you. Because they ARE there to support both of you! If they didn't support *you* then they would've told your fiance NO. At the rehearsal, you can arrange them so that half are on your side and half on his, and the photographer can arrange everyone nicely for the photos.

Alternatively, if you're really close to your brothers or any male friends, it's OK to have them as your attendants. You aren't limited to just women.

But, really, don't choose a bunch of random women (or men) simply for the sake of having warm bodies up there with you. Again, the point of a bridal party is to honor your closest friends, not to look popular.

I can tell you DOZENS of stories about friends who asked the wrong people to be bridesmaids (fiance's sisters that they barely knew, childhood friends they weren't close to anymore but made a promise to 10 years ago to be bridesmaids, random coworkers/cousins to "even out the sides") ... I've heard tons of people say, "I wish I'd had fewer bridesmaids" or "I wish I hadn't had bridesmaids at all." But I promise you ... I've never, EVER heard anyone say, "I wish I'd had more bridesmaids" or "I wish we'd had an equal number of bridesmaids and groomsmen," or "I had no bridal party and I really regret it."

Just leave it how it is. If you already asked a Maid of Honor and she can't make it, then just don't have a bridal party. End of story. I promise you that you won't look like a loser, nobody will think you're a loser, and you won't spend the rest of your life upset about it.

[barthebear]

You are correct that you need not have your fiancee's family as your bridesmaids. Can you possibly discuss with your fiance having NO attendants ( no groomsmen and no bridesmaids) . It definitely is done and I have seen weddings without them, ( After all it used to be that brides needed maids to help with dressing but no more).
Weddings without attendants are nice because everyone is focused only on the bridal couple.

[Stacy]

Thankfully, bridal parties aren't a necessity. Simply don't have one.

[Messykatt]

Well, first of all, you DO have someone. If you asked a friend to be your Maid of Honor, you can hardly dump her because she moved or she's pregnant. Also, why is this such a big deal? Just because your fiance has lots of friends doesn't mean they all have to be groomsmen. Just have one on each side. Or have 2 and ask someone else.