Weddings are about the Bride and Groom. It is not about Bridesmaids or Groomsmen. It is not about Guests and Receptions. The only thing about a wedding that matters are the people who are getting married.
I have been to many weddings. I've always thought it was a bit ostentatious to have a big wedding party. Unless you are quite wealthy, you expect your friends to buy a dress they may never wear again, or spend money renting a tux that typically comes with extremely uncomfortable shoes.
For my wedding Hubby and I agreed to have only one attendant each. I asked my SIL and he asked his best friend. At the wedding rehearsal, Hubby approached me with six of his friends behind him with hopeful looks on their faces. Did he mind if he actually had all his friends be Groomsmen.
Now let's see, is the new wife going to piss off all the Grooms friends by saying no and therefore be labeled as a bitch? I told him OK.
I know it's petty. I know I'm being ridiculous, but to this day I am still irritated about it. Looking back, I wish I had convinced Hubby to elope. Originally I had wanted to do that, but my Mom and Hubby wanted a big church wedding with all our friends and people who know our families but we have never met in attendance.
When I was married, I had been out on my own for about six years. Due to that, I thought it was hypocritical to have my father give me away as I was not his to give. I walked alone down the aisle and gave myself away.
We also did something a bit different at my wedding. The part of the ceremony where the minister, or whoever, asks "If anyone here knows of any reason these two should not be joined, speak now" was not part of our wedding. Hubby and I had a feeling that a couple people we know that would be there might stand up and say something, so we had it left out.
We also broke tradition by having a pink wedding cake, but that is a different story...
If I had it to do over again, It would have been just Hubby and I, with no attendants. There would have been only about half the people there than were actually at our wedding (over 200 people). It would have been much more simple and elegant.