Although weddings come with joy and excitement, they have a weird way of showing what we don’t have but need.
These include a perfect venue, fantastic dress and a beautiful pack of flowers.
But there is more: people. But, who makes up your bridal party if you don’t have friends?
See Also: What Are The Roles Of The Wedding Party?
So, Who Should Be Your Bridesmaids If You Have No Friends?
Answer: You can ask your aunts, sisters and cousins to be your maids. Alternatively, if your fiancé has close female friends or family members, they can be your bridesmaids.
Another option is to hire a professional maid of honor if your budget allows. Or, you can do it with bridesmen. The last option is to do a wedding without bridesmaids. This is not common but it’s not weird either.
Three Reasons Why You May Not Have Potential Bridesmaids
There are many reasons a bride may feel they don’t have the right people to pick as bridesmaids.
- It could be that you’ve moved to a new town and your current friends won’t able to attend.
- Or you feel your co-workers aren’t suitable, your best friends live far away from them or you’re having a hard time making friends.
- You may also be a shy person who doesn’t make friends easily.
All these are circumstances that may make one feel they don’t have the right people to be their maids.
Do not feel embarrassed about any of this.
Remember that everyone’s wedding situation is different. Plus, there are no hard rules that people must abide by.
Five Ways To Find Bridesmaids When You Don’t Have Friends
1. Redefine the Term “Friend”
When choosing your bridesmaids, you need to expand the definition of a “friend”, especially if you feel you don’t have friends.
Remember that your cousin, aunt or work wife can be your closest friend.
By changing how you define your friends, you will realize that you actually have many people that can play this role perfectly.
There isn’t a standard rule on who should be a bridesmaid. Even your male cousin can still play this role well.
2. Look Beyond Your Close Friends
As we grow up, we’re faced with tons of responsibilities from work to nurturing our partners.
As a result, many of us don’t find time to nurture many relationships.
For this reason, we tend to fall out with friends that used to be close either because you live in different locations, don’t make time to socialize or stay in touch or any other reason.
Thankfully, a wedding presents an excellent opportunity to reconnect with friends that drifted apart.
The planning and preparations can bring you closer and strengthen your bond.
Remember that friendships are elastic. So, you shouldn’t have a difficult time reconnecting with someone you were close to before.
3. Have One Bridesmaid
If you have one friend that you do everything with and talk to daily, she would be the best person for this role.
One bridesmaid is enough if you’re selective with your friends. Plus, you will save tons of money and eliminate drama and anxiety.
4. Hire a Bridesmaid
These days the internet has helped us solve problems that were once unsolvable.
If you’re struggling with getting a bridesmaid, you can look for one in online forums.
Some brides have managed to find people to be their maids through this program.
The hired maid can perform bridesmaid’s duties at a fee.
But this means that you will have a stranger at your wedding. Are you comfortable with that?
5. Be Okay with Having None
Bridesmaids are not the key players in a wedding.
The bride and groom are. In fact, you won’t talk to your maids for the better part of the day unless when posing for photos.
Determine why you need bridesmaids at your wedding.
Is it because you feel like you have to as it has been a tradition for many years?
There are perks that come with not having maids in your wedding.
For instance, you can save yourself the anxiety and stress of getting them to coordinate. You can also save money since you will have less people to feed.
But if you opt for a bridesmaids-free wedding, you need to have certain things in mind.
Remember that the procession will be much shorter and you will quickly meet your prince.
So, make sure to choose the appropriate song for the procession.
You also should pick someone to do the maid of honor duties if you like. But make sure you talk to them in advance.
Three Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Your Bridesmaids
1. Let Go Of The Symmetry
Your bridal party mustn’t have an equal number of people on both sides.
If your partner has 5 guys on his side and you have 2, you don’t have to invite other three people to join the squad if you don’t want to.
The photos will still look good even when the number is not balanced and everyone will still have fun.
2. Choose Your Family First
A lot of people think about friends and other people when selecting the bridesmaids.
But your family will always be your family for life.
And after the wedding, you will have a new family.
So, please prioritize family members when making your bridal party list.
3. You Don’t Have To Reciprocate
Your friend asked you to be her maid. While it is a good gesture, you don’t have to return the favor.
You may not be close friends anymore.
But, if you are going to leave them out, make sure you discuss this with her beforehand.
Final Thoughts
While it has always been a norm to choose friends as your bridesmaids, you don’t always have to.
If you have no friends or feel like the ones you have aren’t enough, there are tons of options for you.
You only have to be open to different ways of doing things.
Good luck!
References
https://www.nikknguyenphoto.com/i-dont-have-friends-to-be-bridesmaids/