These are the biggest bridal party trends for 2018

Welcome to the era of unofficial bridal parties
Unsplash

How many members would you have in your bridal party?

Singer Pixie Lott recently told the panel at Loose Women that she is having 18 bridesmaids for her wedding to Oliver Cheshire next year.

While three or four bridesmaids seems to be the norm, bigger bridal parties are coming into fashion.

Below we asked Hamish Shephard, founder and CEO of free wedding planner site, Bridebook.co.uk, about the new direction bridal parties are taking.

What are the biggest bridal party trends you’re seeing this year?

Over the past few years we've been seeing a distinctive increase in the number of bridesmaids in the bridal party. This is a trend that has made it's way across from the United States where large numbers of adult bridesmaids has been common for some time. The larger numbers makes for striking wedding photos and we have seen UK brides embrace the opportunity to include more people in their special day. However, we certainly expect to see, and already have started seeing, a shift away from this trend after Meghan and Harry's wedding in which Meghan turned to tradition and opted only for flower girls.

Can a couple ever have too many bridesmaids and groomsmen?

Absolutely not! Your wedding can be anything you like it to be, including the number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. The only factor to keep in mind is space and cost. Too many bridesmaids and groomsmen and there may not be room at the altar or in the photos! Also keep in mind that 56 per cent of brides pay for their bridesmaid dresses which average between £80 and £150 per dress, so couples need to be wary of their budget before opting for a large wedding party.

Royal Wedding 2018: The best pictures you might have missed

1/60

Is there an optimum number of bridesmaids and groomsmen to have?

There is no set optimum number, it fully depends on the bride and groom. The most important thing is that the bride and groom have the people most important to them there on the day as support. First and foremost, the bridal party and groomsmen are there to support the bride and groom, so as long as they feel they have that they should be happy with the number, whether that takes just one person or ten.

Has the royal wedding caused an increase in people having just one member each of the bridal party?

Yes, and it has also increased, and will continue to increase, the number of couples who are opting to have their bridal party and groomsmen replaced by flower girls and page boys. It's a wonderful way to involve friends and family without having to select an exclusive group of friends for the bridal party or groomsmen. And they look adorable in pictures too.

What do you predict will be the biggest bridal party trends for the coming years?

The unofficial bridal party. As couples get married older, they will opt not to have official bridesmaids dressed up in matching dresses and instead opt to avoid the politics of choosing an exclusive group. Couples are opting for less traditional and more relaxed weddings and having flower girls and page boys instead of a bridal party helps avoid politics and allows everyone to relax and have fun instead of worrying about their duties

Bridebook.co.uk is the UK's free wedding planning app and website with one in three couples in the UK using it to help with their wedding planning.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in