5 Reasons You’ll Want to Have a Huge Bridal Party
Love is patient, love is kind, love is slowing losing your mind. This quote will forever be one of my favorites from “27 Dresses.” You remember, the movie where Katherine Heigl plays the always-a-bridesmaid archetype who shares her own big day with a bevy of 27 women who she played bridesmaid to years before.
Well, in all reality, it’s true - sometimes love will drive you crazy, sometimes a wedding will send you straight spiraling from the stress… But fortunately, for one bride, it never did, and she had 28 bridesmaids who could bear witness to that 🙌 See this bridal party of epic proportion photographed by One Thousand Words Photography.
That’s right. No joke, Sarah Hellyer, a 37-year-old newly-minted Mrs. from Poole, Dorset England, enlisted 28 bridesmaids to stand beside her when she exchanged vows with her hubby, Matt, earlier this summer. Thank goodness the bride was a teacher, because the grounds for the wedding - a marquee outside her own school (situated on 35 acres of sprawling Dorset countryside) couldn’t be any more beautiful and accommodating.
As a beloved sister (to 11 siblings) and Auntie to many, Sarah promised that when she wed, she’d have all of her nieces in the bridal party. Though the number of nieces she had climbed by eight little girls within the span of her [10-year] engagement, she made no exceptions when it came to her July 8th wedding.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Sarah shared that “Matt always knew it would be a big wedding, because I have an enormous family and they're all so important to me…”
From a teeny tiny two-year-old to a 25-year-old senior bridesmaid, Sarah’s legion (the most fitting word to describe the group as told by her photographers) of ladies was comprised of her step-daughter, her Maid of Honor, best friend’s little girl and numerous nieces and great-nieces.
They all dressed and looked the part, too, getting ready as a group at Sarah’s brother’s home and wearing, for the most part, pale pink Grecian-style gowns that could be worn a variety of different ways. Legit, the experience could be likened to a Broadway green room - with one room for dressing, one for makeup application, the other for hair styling, one for snacking, and so on and so forth.
From the time they boarded their vintage bus to St. Mary’s Church in Sturminster Marshall, singing songs the whole way, to the repartee they continued at the reception, the 28 bridesmaids had a ball - and their leader and chief, the blushing bride herself, did as well! The pictures prove it and some!
So while the thought of 28 bridesmaids literally had us shook as hell at first, we’ve definitely warmed to the idea. Read on for five reasons why having a stacked squad is the best idea ever and head over to the photographers’ page to download the details of the day, in their entirety.
Dessy Pink Twist Wrap Dresses come long and short and are perfect for large wedding parties.
You’ll feel like Snow White IRL.
While your crew won’t exactly have white beards and wrinkles … or maybe they will, we’re not judgin (grandmas can be bridesmaids too ;) They’ll still be flittering around hoping to help you with anything you need on your special day.
You won’t have to worry about what’s going on.
Having a lot of members in your party sounds daunting, but wait like Sarah, the older bridesmaids helped with the younger ones - and they never seemed overwhelmed! That’s great, because they can entertain themselves and not have to pull you into any drama!
You’ll have an entourage in tow to take on tasks.
Not only did Sarah’s gaggle of girls make for great memories, they also helped make her day as special as it was. Two of them sang during their ceremony and one played the piano. And if you have a good number of legal ladies to balance out the juniors, you can be sure you’ll always have someone on call to do a liquor store run 👍 Those morning mimosas wouldn’t be the same without some bubbly!
You’ll have a dance troupe for the day!
Hopefully yours will have the energy of Sarah’s tribe, because those girls looked like they had the greatest time on the dance floor! And if your bridesmaids have a similarly vibrant sense of humor, maybe they’ll surprise you and the rest of the wedding guests with a KILLER choreographed routine. Ah group dances. Bestill our beating hearts ❤️.
Your group photos will be the GOAT.
Really, you can’t help but smile at all of group shots One Thousand Words Photography took for Sarah and Matt. From the ambiance and stage-setting scenes of the getting ready shots, to the candids snapped in anticipation of the ceremony and aboard the party bus, and the adorable photos captured throughout the reception and after-party, there are so many opportunities to frame your friends and family if you have an enviously big bridal party like this one!
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- Photographers: One Thousand Words Photography