Having Too Many? What to Do If You Have a Big Entourage in Mind

The members of your entourage are an important part of the wedding ceremony, especially if it's a traditional wedding. For many centuries, couples about to be married relied on their wedding entourage for many things - preparation for the wedding, assistance during the ceremony and in earlier times, even protection.

These days, however, the wedding entourage's duties are mainly to assist the about-to-be-married couple in all aspects related to their wedding. They are also foremost on the couple's minds when planning their big day. The big questions is, how many should you get?

If there are too many names in your mind during the planning stage, don't panic. There is a way to rise above the situation and look at it from an objective point of view. Here's how:

Ask yourself: How big is my wedding?
Think of the number of guests you're having for the wedding. Your entourage should not overwhelm the number of guests attending, whether in church or at the reception. Imagine having a 75-guest wedding and reception and a 20-member entourage. If you're having a large wedding, you can have more entourage members and not look like a small parade in church.

Think of their functions.
Let's make this clear: the wedding entourage is not there to make your wedding picture look good. They are there for a reason: to assist you and your groom and make your wedding party run as smoothly as possible. To help you decide how many to include, here are the basic members of an entourage and what they do:

Maid/Matron of honor - she's the one who assists the bride and makes sure everything is perfect with her gown, veil and makeup before and during the wedding ceremony and reception. She also helps the bride dress and is responsible for holding the bride's bouquet. She may also hold the groom's wedding ring.

Best Man - he is the groom's #1 and assists him all the way. He also hosts the stag party prior to the wedding. He is also responsible for giving the first toast at the reception.

Bridesmaid - attends to the bride during the preparation and the wedding itself. If the bride has any task or errand, she is responsible for making sure this gets done.