08-05-2025
Woman has 95 bridesmaids at her wedding
It is not uncommon for couples to add a personal touch to their wedding day. But few have gone as far as Jack and Kathryn McGowan, who tied the knot with 95 bridesmaids.
Out of around 250 guests, more than a third wore a bridesmaid dress to the ceremony in Northern Ireland last week.
Mrs McGowan, 31, from Hillsborough, said: 'It's really hard to put into words how amazing the whole day was and how mad it was.'
At first, the couple discussed having seven or eight bridesmaids, but the number kept creeping up as Mrs McGowan worried that people would feel left out.
The usual number of bridesmaids for a wedding in the UK between three and five.
A 'huge part of my life'
Mrs McGowan's bridesmaids – who ranged in age from six to 40 – bought their own dresses following Mrs McGowan's colour scheme of champagne and cream.
Many were students at Erne Highland Dance school, where Mrs McGowan works, and some had never attended a wedding before.
Mrs McGowan told BBC Newsline: 'They came to me when they were four and they're still a huge part of my life. I still see them every week ... it was only right they were a huge part of my day.'
During the ceremony at the Larchfield Estate near Annahilt, Co Down, the bridesmaids separated walked down the aisle in two columns. They stood during the service and surrounded the seated guests.
'I definitely made the right decision,' said Mrs McGowan.
'It was really good when we were getting the photos, the older girls organised the younger ones and they were all standing perfectly arranged ready for me to bounce into the middle.'
Mr McGowan, a bagpipe teacher originally from Aberdeen, Scotland, had only eight groomsmen.
Asked whether they were able to dance with all the bridesmaids, he joked on BBC Radio Ulster that ' the best man is still dancing today '.
