Save On The Wedding With No Bridal Party

One of the first decisions I made was to have a wedding with no bridal party.  Thankfully The Frugal Rooster was absolutely fine with that decision.  Almost every wedding I have been in or attended that had issues they generally involved some member of the bridal party.  Plus since we decided to have a micro-wedding it would have been half the attendees standing in the front and only their dates in the seats.

As I googled this is becoming a much more common thing for weddings.  Here is our logic as to why we chose this and what arrangements we have to make since we won’t have a traditional bridal party!

Reasons to Have a Wedding With No Bridal Party

1.  More Drama Free Wedding: Just this holiday season I was at a party with some newlyweds and we started talking wedding planning.  She said “it was easy- we really didn’t have any issues.”  He called her bluff and reminded her about one of her bridesmaids.  She said the bridesmaid was easily the worst part of the whole experience.  By eliminating the wedding party there are no worries about personalities, who is paying for what, what everyone’s going to wear or getting schedules all aligned.
2. Who Has The Same Number of Friends?: Maybe this is just a symptom of me being an older bride but I can’t tell you how many times I heard “she had to have 7 bridesmaids so I had to find 7 guys.”  You end up obligating people you would have never considered to include so you have symmetry on the platform.
3. No Hurt Feelings: When I sat down today to write this I estimated I have been in about a dozen weddings.  Several of them I literally begged not to be a bridesmaid in (I was filling in because someone else bailed)- it’s not something everyone enjoys.  Since I am a musician I offered to swap out and do the music instead and a few brides took me up on that.  But for some being a bridesmaid is a badge of honor.  By eliminating the position there is no competition and no hurt feelings.
4. It Saves Us Money: By eliminating the wedding party there are quite a few expenses I spared myself from.  No bridesmaids gifts, no “please be my bridesmaid” gifts, no flowers for them to carry, no boutonnieres for the guys, no bouquet for the flower girl.  An added benefit of this means my photographer will be taking less pictures.  And since she gets paid by time this has saved me on her cost as well!
5. It Saves Them Money: This saved my fiancée’s adult children from having to spend money on the wedding for things they may not like.  While all have or will probably buy clothing, they will get to pick pieces they like and can use.  It saves my family and best friends from spending hundreds of dollars on dresses, make up, nails, shoes, hair and potentially travel.  I know for certain I have been in weddings that cost me over $1,000 and ton of my mental well being.
6. We Cancelled the Rehearsal Dinner: Some people still decide to have friends and family in for dinner the night before but we did not because ours is kind of a wedding weekend.  We get married Friday and party Saturday.  So this saves the cost of the rehearsal dinner because we don’t need to rehearse anything.

Ready to find the dress?  Check out How To Stay Below Typical Wedding Dress Cost!

There is nothing like a maid of honor!  This is me at my BFF’s wedding in 2000!

How To Handle a Wedding With No Bridal Party

When I tell people we aren’t having a bridal party I get some pretty interesting questions.  There are a few typical wedding things you have to figure out since you don’t have the obligated parties around to help.  Here are the decisions we have made!

1.  How To Tell People: Fortunately I don’t have, for example, an aunt that will be devastated my cousin isn’t in my wedding.  And my REAL friends, the ones who would be there for me no matter what, were fine with the decision.  Stand firm.  When we first started planning we got some kick back from family about a few decisions we made.  It really threw me for a loop and made me question things more than I would like to admit.  But The Frugal Rooster and I agreed to stand firm together and it’s made all difference in making sure we get the event we want.
2. Who Will Hold The Rings?: While I understand a ring bearer is a time honored tradition I feel the officiant will be perfectly capable of keeping two rings safe until the ceremony.
3. Who Will Do Everything?: It may just be because I am an older bride but I have friends who have been waiting a long time for this day to come for me.  Some have literally been waiting decades.   They are true friends who want to be helpful.  So I have asked select friends based on their skill sets for favors and all have been gracious.  Having a micro-wedding does help with that.
4. Who Will Hold Your Bouquet And Fix Your Dress?: My nine year old niece has offered to sit in the front row and handle those duties.
5. Who Throws the Shower?:  So I actually didn’t want a shower and was informed I didn’t get a say.  Three of my friends, who are all very different from each other, had actually come together behind my back and decided they would work on it together.  I got to pick the theme, the date and most of the invitees .  The rest is all up to them.  With good friends you won’t miss out on this tradition!
6. Be Sure Someone Is Planned To Help The Bride: I have a friend who plans on being there to do all the things I will need.  Apparently once I am dressed I will want to run around way too much and someone will need to gather things for me.  Also people will want to find me and I need a bouncer to keep them away.  Typically this is a bridesmaid’s function and we have just assigned it to someone else.

Looking to save on the ring?  Check out Why I Chose A Lab Created Sapphire vs Diamond Engagement Ring!

Laura Oliver is the author and owner of AFrugalChick.com.  In 2023 at the age of 44 she is getting married for the first time and as a naturally frugal person the cost of the wedding is more than she could have imagined!  She hopes these tips can help people have a great engagement and wedding without breaking the bank!