Being able to celebrate your wedding day with your closest friends and family adds to the fun.
That is why people take time to choose the best wedding party.
But when choosing your bridesmaids, is there a line to draw?
So, Can Your Aunt Be a Bridesmaid?
Yes, your aunt can one of your bridesmaids. There is no harm in asking your aunt to be your bridesmaid, especially if she is young. Remember, bridesmaids are there to help the bride and the maid of honor plan the wedding. So, if you value your aunt’s input, you should make her your bridesmaid.
See Also: What Are The Roles Of The Wedding Party?
Two Considerations Before Asking Your Aunt to Be Your Bridesmaid
1. Will She Be Comfortable?
Although there is nothing wrong with asking your aunt to be your bridesmaid, please note that she might not be comfortable.
Most times, bridesmaids are around the same age as the bride.
Therefore, an older aunt may be uncomfortable working with younger people. As such, don’t be offended if she declines your request.
2. Pre Wedding Activities?
Another thing to remember is that even if she agrees, she may not participate fully in pre-wedding activities.
If other bridesmaids are young, she may be uncomfortable fitting in. So, to avoid this, she may accept your request but only participate in the most crucial parts.
For instance, she may feel uncomfortable attending your bachelorette party with the rest of the crew or unable to party the entire night of the wedding.
Three Other Roles Aunt Can Play at Your Wedding
If your aunt can’t be your bridesmaid for one reason or another, there are other roles they can play.
She can be:
1. Personal Attendant
The wedding personal attendant is not a popular role.
However, it is an important one. A PA helps the bride on the wedding day and even with planning activities.
However, they are not usually a bridesmaid. You could let your aunt be your PA if she didn’t attend your bridal party.
That way, you can include her in other wedding festivities like the bridal shower and even getting ready together.
She can wear the same dress style as other maids but in a different color or choose something different.
2. The Usher
Usher’s role is sweet and simple.
Simply standing at the entrance of the where the ceremony is taking place or reception venue and guiding guests to their seats.
Most times, this role is assigned to uncles and other family members.
However, if your aunt is comfortable and loves ushering, she can take up this role.
3. Parents Stand In
If you can’t have your mom beside you during the wedding, your elder aunt can fill the gap.
She can accompany you down the aisle or wait at the altar, depending on what you prefer.
If you and your sibling are wedding in one ceremony, your aunt can stand in place for your parents.
It means you or your sibling gets to walk down the aisle with her. But they don’t need to stand in for the family portrait afterwards.
Besides these roles, your aunt can also help look after children during the wedding if you allow or be the greeter during the ceremony and the reception.
Four Tips on Choosing Your Bridesmaids
1. Wedding Size
Traditionally, the total number wedding guests influences your bridal party.
For instance, if you’re inviting fifty guests, you can have more than three maids and a maid of honor.
But if your guests are around 150-200, you can increase the list to 10-12 maids.
But remember, the more bridesmaids, the higher your wedding budget will be.
2. Start with Family
Etiquette demands that you start with your immediate family when choosing your bridesmaids.
So this means you consider your siblings, then your cousins, and other close family members.
If they are too young to be bridesmaids, you can ask them to be junior bridesmaids or flower girls.
But note that while it is tradition to include family in your bridal party, it is not always a must. If you don’t have a large family or aren’t close to them, choosing your closest friends for this role is okay.
At the same time, you should ask your future sister-in-law to be in this group.
That shows that you’ve accepted your fiancé’s family as your own. Plus, she will feel more involved in the wedding and hopefully, bring you closer.
3. Choose Reliable People
Although bridesmaids do not participate too much in wedding planning, there are times you will need them.
So it is important to pick people you can count on.
Friends that do not people up calls or call back or people who are always late are not fit for this role.
Choose friends that will answer your phone calls and emails immediately or return them and show up when you need them to.
4. Think about Personalities and Feelings
Your wedding is among the most important days of your life.
Therefore, it is obvious you will want it to be drama free and a celebration everyone can enjoy.
Sure, all your bridesmaids cannot be best friends. However, if you know a friend with a strong personality who rubs people the wrong way, avoid inviting them.
You need to seal every loophole for drama and this is one of them.
It is also wise to have a few bridesmaids to avoid hurting people’s feelings. A smaller group could save you lots of stress.
You don’t want to leave one of your friends out because you have decided to have ten maids, yet your friend group consists of 11 people.
Final Thoughts
You can ask your aunt to be your bridesmaid. Chances are she will be elated for this role. However, if she is uncomfortable
playing this part, you can assign her another role. The above tips can help you choose the right people as your bridesmaids who will make your wedding fun and memorable.
References
https://www.myweddingfavors.com/blogs/bridal-blog/are-you-ever-too-old-to-be-a-bridesmaid
https://www.anthropologie.com/stories-bridesmaid-proposal-guide