Wedding Party vs No Wedding Party with Ashtyn Brooke
“You don’t have to do what everyone else did. What matters most is what you want the most”. - Kelly McWilliams.
This is the perfect episode if you have a decision to make about whether or not to have a small, large or any wedding party. I have Ashtyn Brooke with me who is a photographer and a business educator and she’s going to chat with me about wedding party vs no wedding party. We will talk through all of the reasons to consider the size of your wedding party. You’re going to especially love this episode if you’re torn with the decision of not picking the right people to stay beside you on your wedding day, or how many to pick, or if you don’t want anyone at all.
We will also talk about:
◦ How your decisions may influence your spending plan
◦ The amount of time and effort you put into your wedding party
◦ What difference it makes on your wedding day schedule.
Let’s get into the episode.
Ashtyn Brooke is passionate about delivering a client experience that goes beyond quality and long lasting images. She is currently photographing weddings and elopements in southwest Florida. She happily travels worldwide doing her dream job, serving her dream couples and helping other photographers do the same.
House Party:
Besides just having your bridal party, your bridesmaids, you have a House Party. They’re kind of like the girls that you would have in your wedding party if you had more room. They are part of the gang but they don’t necessarily have the same matching dresses or flowers. They don’t stand at the altar but they will definitely go down the aisle. It’s two different groups of women; all together in what’s considered a party. House party is there when you really truly want to make sure that everyone who’s important to you, has a significance in the wedding, so there’s definitely a reason for it. A lot of times this happens when you have 30 sorority sisters that mean the world to you, but you really want your sisters and your two best friends to be your bridesmaids and the rest can be included in the house party.
Pros of a Large Wedding Party:
◦ The energy ramps up, for sure. Every little thing like revealing your dress or walking into the reception, your wedding party adds so much fun and energy into the whole element of the night. Typically you can’t have a bad time when your best friends and closest of family members are in your party. They’re your hype team, so it’s just a blast for the atmosphere.
◦ You don’t have the guilt on yourself from not including the people who are important to you for one reason or another.
◦ Traditionally, that’s what you’ve seen and that’s what is the norm where you are, so you don’t want to stray from that.
◦ You really feel comfortable in that zone - that you should have 8-10 people by your side. It’s an expectation thing. If that’s what you’ve seen and dream of, then that’s how you’re going to plan for your wedding to have all your people up there no matter the number.
◦ When it comes to photography, what’s fun is that you have diversity of emotions and energies to get captured, which adds to the mood of the wedding.
Cons of a Large Wedding Party:
◦ A larger wedding party costs more money. There are far more people getting their hair and makeup done so you have to bring in additional stylist. The timing that goes into the ‘getting ready portion of the day’ is now much longer. You have to start early in the morning in order to make sure that everyone gets their hair and makeup done in time.
◦ There are more people to photograph so your photographers will take longer. The further you extend your wedding party, it causes room for less quality. This is not always the case, but let’s say you have a little bit of a small bridal party. It’s easier for photographers to focus their energies to get things done. You’re also limited to the kind of pictures you take with a large bridal party.
◦ There can also be some personality issues, so it’s a major con to consider. There is more room for that vulnerable situation where certain personalities get intermixed.
◦ As a couple, you want everyone to have fun. You feel the responsibility to keep everyone happy and it takes away a little bit of your focus from the wedding. There’s a possibility of getting distracted rather than being totally present in the moment.
◦ Transportation becomes an issue when there’s a larger wedding party. The timeline gets crunchy and so tight to get what you want before the sun is down.
No Wedding Party:
When there’s no wedding party, everything is about the couple and there’s no distraction. That’s such a touching thing. There’s more family focussed moments and you get to channel your energy with your closest ones. There’s something very intimate about having no bridal party. Also, you don’t have the guilt of not including certain people because there was no wedding party at all. There are other ways to honour people and make them become a part of your wedding. Some of those things include giving a toast to them at a rehearsal dinner or have pre-wedding parties and include them in those.
Middle of the Road Option for your Wedding Party:
There should be smaller wedding party of 2-4 people because then you still feel like you have a supportive group of people alongside you the whole day. You can also be more focussed on that group of people because clearly, they will the ones nearest and dearest to you. People are more calm in this way and things a a bit relaxed from beginning to end.
“At the end of the day, do what is right for you and don’t let guilt or expectations to change your decision because you deserve to be present the way you want to be present on your wedding day and you won’t regret doing what your gut says is the right thing”. - Ashtyn Brooke
