Bridesmaids - how many?

Personally speaking I would just keep it to the family members and politely explain to the others that you simply can't afford to have them as well.

I have 5 bridesmaids and I wouldn't have had it any other way as we are all really close friends. But yes the costs do add up!! Do the sums and see if your budget works with 6 bridesmaids. I asked the florist to bulk out the bridesmaid flowers with greenery to keep costs down and letting them wear their own shoes saved a bit of money. I have offered to pay for their hair if they want it but not offered make up. Or you could consider giving your friends other roles. Maybe one could do a reading and the other be a witness for example. That way they are still involved but without the added costs.

There are ways of keeping the costs down, if your BMs are willing to work with you (and if they aren't willing to work with you, why are they BMs?). I've got my 4 infinity dresses from Etsy for £50 each inc. posting. They look great, and will be able to wear the dresses again in the future. I've told them that they can have whatever they like in terms of shoes, hair, makeup, or jewellery, but they will be paying for those themselves.

It depends on how you do it. I have four bridesmaids and I am paying for their dresses, shoes, hair and accessories. They are paying for their own make up. I got their dresses from Quiz. They were £69.99 but I got 15% off with my sister's student discount. I will be buying their shoes and accessories from the high street and my hairdresser is reasonably priced so there are ways of having more bridesmaids on a budget.

I was a bridesmaid at a wedding where there were eight bridesmaids, three flower girls, four page boys, two best men and two ushers ? They kept costs down by only providing our dresses. We got our own shoes, jewellery and did our own hair and make up. We also had artificial flowers.

I think that if you feel that you would regret not having them, then ask them, there are always ways to keep your costs down x

I have two and I am paying for everything for them. It's already really expensive but it's my sister and sister-in-law so I'm happy with it.

I could have had another 4 but I just didn't want the stress. They talk about wedding stuff with me all the time and they are super excited about the hen. I think some of them have offered to help which is great.

Go with whatever you want and can afford. People understand you can't have everyone involved.

I'm having four BM's. My maid of honour is my oldest friend and then the others are close friends from uni. Is there any way you could include these other two close friends in the day some how if you want them to play a part in it? Maybe they could do a reading or act as a witness for you.

If you wanted to go with all of them as BM's, there are definitely options for cutting down the cost like by getting the dresses from a high street shop instead of a bridal boutique. Also, I have asked mine to get their own shoes and accessories which they are quite happy to do. I've bought their dresses off ebay and they look brill.

I feel your pain with the cost too, honestly I nearly died when I went in the first bridal shop and the woman told me that its like £250 for a dress ? ...lol the idea of spending £1000 on four dresses that will only be worn once went down like a lead balloon with H2B xx

I'm having 5 - I'm getting a discount from bridal shop for my dresses as buying 5 (£117 each), but you can get lovely dresses on the high street for much less. I have only opted for bridal shop as I wanted 5 of the same dress in different colours. My girls have offered to pay for their hair and make up. I bought shoes in the Next sale for £16 each but originally was going to get them to wear their own xx

I haven't confirmed all my bridesmaids yet but I have a definite 6 at a minimum and 8 if I decide to add 2 that I want..

im not having a professional hairdresser or make up artist, a lot of people said I should but 2 of my bridesmaids are hairdressers and 2 of them are really good at make up and understand the whole SPF on flash photography etc so they have agreed to all help each other. I bought shoes from Matalan in the sale for £4 each, dresses are from eBay (China) £8 each! And jewellery is from eBay as well. It all sounds cheap but honestly you wouldn't know it. If you didn't want to do things on a budget maybe they could buy their own shoes and just specify a style/colour? That way they can keep them and wear them again.

Also, I'm making my own flowers but I know a few florists do deals if you have a certain amount of bridesmaids etc. Speak to your bridesmaids and find out whether they're willing to help at all, get some quotes from florists etc before asking others to see if you can fit it into your budget :-)

To keep costs down, I paid for hair but not make-up and I asked them to buy their own shoes which they could wear again. It also depends on where you will get your dresses from as that can be costly. However, I have had friends who have had to pay for their own dresses etc, just depends how you feel about that!

Is there a way you could make them part of your day another way? DH and I each chose our oldest school friend to have as our witnesses so they were included but not part of the bridal party.