Say No to Bridesmaids and Groomsmen: Why You Should Plan Your Wedding Without a Wedding Party in 2026

Regardless of who's paying for the wedding, it is you who's getting married. It is your wedding, not everyone else's. In other words, you should not include something (or someone) in your wedding for the sake of tradition or obligation. But yet, the wedding industry has conditioned women to include the entire neighborhood in their bridal party. While never stoping to ask what does the bridal party actually do. But more importantly, who started this tradition, and why?

Now, I'm not saying you shouldn't involve your friends in your wedding — far from it. What I am saying is that you don't need to slap outdated titles on them or have them spend $1,500 while forcing them to ask for multiple days of PTO just to be part of your wedding in today's volatile economy and job market. And from what I've seen, some brides and bridesmaids have even lost friends over this. Also, let's not kid ourselves here, cramming 20 people at the altar looks goofy AF. You're marrying your fiancé, not the entire apartment complex.

But you're here, so you kinda already get it. Or maybe you're thinking of skipping the bridal party and need someone in the wedding industry to tell you it's the right choice to make. Well, hate to break it to ya, but not sure if the opinion of a drunk will mean much — but as they say, kids and drunks never lie. Either way, you're in the right place. I'll start with the dark ass history on the origin of the bridesmaid, then follow with practical reasons why you should ditch the bridal party in 2026.

Bridal Party vs Wedding Party

But first, let's define bridal party, what the difference between what a bridal party is versus what a wedding party is. Everyone uses both terms interchangeably — I do too, not gonna lie. Just know that I'm specifically referring to the bridesmaids, groomsmen, maid of honor, and best man.

Bridal Party consists only of bridesmaids and the maid of honor.
Wedding Party is everyone from the maid of honor, the best man, bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girl, ring bearer, etc.

And you don't have to take my word for it — many of your sisters have been very vocal about how outdated and expensive the bridal party tradition has become. After watching this hour-long video, I can't imagine why anyone would still want bridesmaids in their wedding or even want to be a bridesmaid for their friend's wedding.

The Ugly Truth About Bridesmaids and The Forgotten Ties to Slavery

Historically, the wedding party (bridesmaids and groomsmen) dressed exactly like the bride and groom to ward off and confuse demons, curses, Bigfoot, Chupacabra, ghosts, etc. Which is funny, because half of y'all don't even believe in Bigfoot. And it gets worse. As we "civilized," the bridal party's role shifted from protecting against evil spirits to confusing jealous suitors who might try to harm the newlyweds. That's right — if you were unlucky enough to be a groomsman or bridesmaid back in the day, you also had to worry about getting r*ped, kidnapped, and/or shot. And not necessarily in that order.

If you go further back, one of the earliest mentions of bridesmaids comes from the biblical story of Jacob and his two wives, Rachel and Leah. Back then, bridesmaids weren't picking out dresses or helping with bachelorette parties — they were there to serve the bride's every need. And since no one wanted the job, it was forced on enslaved women. It gets darker. After Jacob married Leah, he finally got to marry Rachel — the one he actually wanted to marry. But when Rachel couldn't get pregnant, she told Jacob to have a child with her maidservant (aka bridesmaid, aka slave girl). And Jacob, being the stand-up guy he was, said, "Sure, why not?" Then Leah, not to be outdone, ordered Jacob to do the same with her maidservant — aka slave, aka bridesmaid.

Practical Reasons to Ditch the Wedding/Bridal Party

Now that we've got that dark-ass history out of the way, let's dive into X practical reasons why you should skip the bridal party. And while many of your sisters on Reddit regret having a bridal party more than regret not having one, my advice comes from a practical, boots-on-the-ground point of view. Also, it's worth noting that some wedding publications are reluctantly talking about ditching the bridal party. But overall, it's not something you'll hear from them, because the sad reality is that the wedding industry's job is to extract as much money from you as possible — you're a one-time client. So of course, they are not incentivized to advise you on how to save money on your own wedding.

Weddings Start Late Because of the Bridal Party

The more people you have in your bridal party, the more likely the wedding will start late, causing everything else to run late. How? For each person in your bridal party, add a 15–20 minute delay. Multiply that by the total number of people in the bridal party, and you'll quickly see how your wedding could be one, two, even three hours behind. So say you have five couples in your bridal party — that's ten possible car accidents on the way to the venue, ten possible diarrhea cases, ten possible hangovers, ten possible wardrobe malfunctions…the list goes on. Now think about hair and makeup and how long that takes for one person — multiply that by six now. All this, and we haven't even taken a single picture yet, let alone walked down the aisle.

Late Start = Wedding Vendor Overtime Pay

You know what happens when the wedding runs late? Vendors charge you overtime at best; leave at the exact time you both agreed on in the contract at worst. Can you blame them? No. They showed up on time — probably even super early — did their job as promised, and then you expect them to stay overtime because the wedding started late thanks to the massive bridal party?

The Bridal Party Tradition Isn’t Set in Stone

There’s no rule—written or unwritten—saying you need to line up your siblings, best friends, cousins, or coworkers to play starring roles in your wedding. Because guess what? They’ll still be your people the day after the wedding, with or without a fancy title. And if someone gets butt hurt about not being a bridesmaid or groomsman, doesn’t that just prove my point? They care more about stealing the spotlight than supporting you on your wedding day.

Weddings are about celebrating your love, not handing out titles. The people who truly care about you don’t need a special role to validate their place in your life. By skipping the bridal party, you’re not excluding anyone—you’re actually freeing your friends from obligations they might secretly be relieved to avoid. They will still be there, celebrating with you, just without the added pressure.

And yes, you can still throw the bridal shower, bachelorette, and bachelor parties—but without the stress of roles and responsibilities, everyone’s involvement will feel more natural. Plus, life happens. People’s schedules change, things come up, and the more you rely on others for pivotal roles, the higher the chance of last-minute dropouts. Keeping it simple means avoiding unnecessary stress and keeping the focus where it belongs—on you. At the end of the day, the people who truly matter will still be there. The most memorable moments aren’t about tradition or who stood where—they’re about the marriage, not the wedding.