Hi everyone, I wondered if you could help me with a dilemma….
Me and my other half got engaged 3 months ago and we’re now starting to think about our wedding. I have pretty much decided on my grown up bridesmaids (I have no sisters but a lot of close friends but this was a difficult task in itself!) but I’m not going to ask any of them until we have set a date.
I had lunch with my aunt last week and I told her that we were starting to think about venues and she jumped in with, ‘so WHAT are you going to do about bridesmaids?’. The reason she asked this is because on her side of the family, there are LOTS of little girls. On top of this I have a 19 year old cousin on my other side of the family, who I definitely want to ask, and my FH’s little cousin as my bridesmaid from the groom’s side, plus, you know… some of my FRIENDS too, ha! So really I’m a little bit spoilt for choice.
I had initially thought I might like the youngest (4 years old) to be the flower girl as I thought she was the only one who had never yet been a bridesmaid already, but apparently another of them has too. They all range from 4-15 years, but as we won’t be getting married for 2/3 years yet, they will of course be much older by the time the wedding comes around. Apparently the eldest (15) has it in her head that she will be chosen (not sure why) and I know the smaller ones want to be as well. The thing is, I’m not sure I’m comfortable choosing one but not the others (some are sisters of each other, other are cousins, but they are all pretty close with each other) but having all of them plus all the others I want is just not feasible.
Do any of you have any tips for a- letting younger girls down easily (I’ve seen a lot of articles about how to tell a friend or sister they’re not a bridesmaid, but less about kids/teenagers), b- letting their parents/other ‘involved’ family members down who might have something to say about it, and c- any ideas of how else I might be able to involve the girls in the wedding without it seeming like a slap in the face? I thought about giving them baskets of flowers to help decorate the ceremony venue before the actual ceremony starts (so they’re like flower girls but not) but that obviously depends on the venue’s rules on petals/confetti, and it might only be appropriate for the younger ones to do.
Any help/advice would be appreciated!!
