How many bridesmaid for civil ceremony?

No number is too many, as long as you are happy and can afford them! lol

Personally I am having my one sister and my one niece, there were loads of others I could have had but to save arguements and upset I just chose those two. If I'd gone for cousins children for example I would have upset 3 if I only chose one! If I were you I'd just have daughter and step-daughter, not because more is too many, just to save potential conflict!

Exactly this!

Don't ever ask anyone out of obligation. Ask those that you know will help you either in the lead up or on the day (realistically most people are going to be good for either or rather than both!!) Do not ask anyone who will cause you additional drama and stress!

Definatley consider budget, will you be paying for their dresses? If so be sure that you can afford them all.

I've made it clear that whoever i ask to be bridesmaid will be paying for their own dresses as i'm trying to plan the wedding on a tight budget.

The obvious way to do it would be just have my daughter and step daughter but i don't want just those. I want a few big bridesmaids. I only want one young one (being my daughter)

I think whatever i choose they'll be issues so i think i need to bite the bullet and deal with the drama lol! x

As many as you like!

I had 4 and that was perfect.

However I would have an issue with this. I would not ask someone to be my BM unless I can afford to pay for their dress, shoes and tiara etc.. It does not have to be expensive, out wedding was on a huge budget but as a BM I would be very put put to buy my own stuff.

I'm having 5 as well who are also paying for their own dresses!

Fair enough, each to their own. For me it was just a given that I would pay. I would feel bad asking them to pay themselves but that's just me I guess.

All of my family and friends that i have mentioned the paying for own dress to has said that they would be more than happy to do this.

If it meant that i could be a bridesmaid i would quite happily pay for my own things.

Have you got any young BM's though?

Id have loved to have bought them all but was a choice betweEn paying for the dresses but only having two BMs or having all my closest friends and them paying. I spoke to them all and they said they were happy to do so. I'll make sure they don't have to pay more than 100 maximum. I was BM last month for a friend and she had 7bms who all paid for their own dresses and no one minded! People understand the economic climate and how expensive things are!

Times are tough- hence why I wouldn't want to ask them to pay though- I spent about £50 on each BM for dress, shoes, tiara and jewellery. Just wanted to show it could be done that's all- when I was first planning I saw BM dresses for £300 each- no way could we have afforded that.

Wow u done well getting them all for that price! The way i saw it was that they'd be buying new outfits for the wedding anyway, and if any of them was having trouble affording it (as I suspect one friend will as she's out of work) I'll step in and pay for them. I'm hoping to be able to save enough to surprise them by paying after all

The bridesmaid that i am planning on having are

my daughter who i will be paying for. my stepdaughter who i will also be paying for.

My sister whose 30, my niece whose 22 and my friend who is 25 who are all fine with paying.

The way i discussed the subject with potential bridesmaids was by saying would they prefer to be a bridesmaid and pay or not be one at all and they were all fine with this. x

Ye i think i am pretty much happy with my decision. plus we've found some amazing BM's dresses for £100 and they are amazing, plus its in the same shop that i want my dress from and they offer a 10% discount on anything ordered with the bridal dress, like acessories and bridesmaid dresses and things. x

The way I'm planning it for my wedding, if the outfits my bridesmaids want are over a certain price (currently to be decided, as my Mom is actually paying for most of the wedding - she's very traditional), then I'd ask them to maybe chip in a little, maybe say we'd get the dresses and they could get the accessories? Because at the end of the day, it's expensive stuff! But I'm only having 2 bridesmaids, so it might not even come to that in the end ?

At the end of the day though, everyone's different, and it's your wedding, so do it how you want ?

We are only having 40 guests at a civil ceremony(in same venue as wedding breakfast) and 4 ie 10% are bridesmaids - my 19 year old daughter and my three neices aged 13 to 3. My middle neice has never been a bridesmaid so was really excited when she found out we were getting married.

GemmaM - My colour theme was sage green but these dresses are blue so were going to go and have a look on wednesday and see what colours suit the bridesmaids and go from there. x

I think It really depends on budget and how many you want. I'll only be having a few since I know so many more men than women! But will be able to spend more on their dresses because of this.

Its your day !! have a whole harem of bridesmaid if you like lol

I am having a tiny wedding (10 of us in total) but I am still having my best friend and her daughter as my BMs. I wouldn't want to get married without them there by my side. It's entirely up to you how many BMs you have, but I do agree that if you ask someone to be a BM then you should contribute in some way, whether it be shoes and accessories or the dress itself. If you are asking them to pay for their dresses then I think you have to completely let go and allow them to choose whatever they want - it is their money.

I paid for my own dress when I was BM for my best friend - my friend felt very guilty about it and only allowed me to do it in the end because they had a baby on the way and needed the money for other things, but because I paid I had complete choice over colour, style, price, everything.

They do have alot of input on the style and colour. i liked green but they have found a blue dress they like so we're going to try those on on wednesday.

None of the bridesmaids have an issue with paying for the dresses. Its only the dress not the acessories that there paying for.