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Spectator
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Spectator
The brutality of being a bridesmaid
There stands the bride. Perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect fake tan. She may not have slept the previous night or eaten for six months but, still, she's beaming. And there behind her stand the bridesmaids. All 95 of them. When Kathryn McGowan got married in County Down this month, she couldn't decide which of her pals should have the honour of holding her train and checking she didn't have lipstick on her teeth. 'It was quite stressful,' she said of the dilemma, 'and then one day the idea came to me.' Instead of having the average number of bridesmaids (in the UK, this is three to five), she'd have 95 of them, aged between six and 40. The colour scheme was 'champagne and cream', but nobody had to be matching, presumably because it was too difficult to find a neckline that worked on children as well as women approaching perimenopause. In a radio interview a week or so after the wedding, the groom joked that his best man was 'still dancing'. If you're on bridesmaid duty this summer, consider yourself fortunate if, like the Irish lot, you get to pick your own dress. This is less and less often the case. Instead, bridesmaids are often shoehorned into sludgy green, peach or maroon, a shade more normally used for Travelodge curtains (in fact some frocks could double for window dressings). They hang shapelessly, clinging to the wrong bits, they're polyester and it's a hot day, and why did these women even say yes to being a bridesmaid in the first place? 'Say cheese,' coaxes the unbearably chirpy photographer, and – wearily – they all try another smile. As we stagger into another wedding season, will nobody think of the poor bridesmaids? Because although weddings have become bigger, more expensive, more outlandish, more and more designed for social media, the bridesmaid experience hasn't changed much.
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
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 '.
Times
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Here comes the bride (eventually, after her 95 bridesmaids)
In a traditional wedding, when bridesmaids start to walk down the aisle, the bride is typically a few steps behind. Guests at one wedding in Northern Ireland last week, however, had to watch nearly 100 bridesmaids pass in pairs before getting a glimpse of the bride. Kathryn McGowan, née Stewart, had 95 bridesmaids at her wedding to Jack at Larchfield Estate, Co Down, last Thursday. More than a third of the 250 guests in attendance were bridesmaids. The McGowans had at least 19 times the average number of bridesmaids for a wedding in the UK of between three to five. • How to be a cool bride in 2025 — from the hen do to the wedding dress McGowan, 31, from Hillsborough, had been unable
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Here comes the bride...and her 95 bridesmaids as couple buck 'micro weddings' trend
Micro weddings have become all the rage for couples desperately wanting to keep guest numbers down. But Jack McGowan and his new wife Kathryn decided to buck the trend - with 95 bridesmaids included in their massive wedding party. The newlyweds had a day they will never forget last week when they tied the knot in front of 250 people. And, with nearly 100 bridesmaids in the audience, they accounted for 38 per cent of the guests at the spectacular occasion. It was women who dominated the day with Mr McGowan, who is originally from Aberdeen, having only eight groomsmen. Mrs McGowan, 31, said: 'It was a very, very laid back and fun day and one neither of us will ever forget.' The Highland dance teacher explained there were so many people she had met through dancing she felt should be involved - and hadn't realised she could have only a handful of bridesmaids. Originally from Hillsborough in Northern Ireland, she said: 'I said to Jack at the time, 'How on Earth am I ever going to settle on eight, even nine bridesmaids'. 'It was quite stressful, and then one day I was driving to one of my classes and the idea came to me and I phoned Jack and asked the question. 'He said it sounded absolutely perfect, so I managed to have everyone in that I wanted to be included in it and we arrived at 95.' The wedding took place in Larchfield Estate, near Annahilt, County Down, in Northern Ireland on May 1. Mr McGowan, 30, who is a bagpipe teacher and now lives in his wife's homeland, also had some of his pupils piping throughout the day. And Mrs McGowan added: 'The dancers were dancing all day, we had an outdoor barbecue, so everything was so relaxed, and everybody was enjoying the garden, making TikTok videos and all sorts. 'It was just very relaxed, very fun, and probably just a bit mad to be honest.' Her new husband, who was wearing a kilt in the MacRae Hunting Weathered tartan on the big day, said he thought it was the best decision to have so many bridesmaids. He added: 'I know all 95 of them, so it just felt really appropriate for the pair of us. It kind of just fitted.' Once a colour scheme was chosen for the bridesmaids, Mrs McGowan said: 'They sorted their own dresses and chose their own style, which was great because then their own personalities all came through.' The average bridesmaid count is said to be around three, meaning this wedding had more than 31 times the number a typical wedding would have.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Unforgettable day' - the wedding with almost 100 bridesmaids
'Unforgettable day' - the wedding with almost 100 bridesmaids 8 minutes ago Share Save Eve Coleman & Abigail Taylor BBC News NI Share Save Mark Johnston The average number of bridesmaids for a wedding in the UK is about three to five There are traditional weddings and then there are people who like to add their own twist to their big day. Jack McGowan, originally from Aberdeen in Scotland, and his wife Kathryn from Hillsborough, Northern Ireland, decided two or three bridesmaids would not meet the mark for the special occasion. The newly-wed couple who tied the knot last week with 95 bridesmaids said it was "an absolutely unforgettable day". The average number of bridesmaids for a wedding in the UK is about three to five. Mark Johnston Jack McGowan, originally from Aberdeen, and his wife Kathryn from Hillsborough tied the knot last week Ms McGowan said as soon as the couple got engaged they were debating how many bridesmaids was too many. "I was thinking and thinking about how it was going to work and I thought in my head, what's the biggest number of bridesmaids I could have?" She said the couple discussed having seven or eight, which then raised to nine or ten but they eventually landed on 95. The wedding took place in Larchfield estate, near Annahilt, County Down, in Northern Ireland. They had about 250 guests altogether, meaning 38% of the guests donned a bridesmaid dress. The women and girls shared more than a colour scheme - with many being pupils of Kathryn's dance school. "All my dancers and my friends that have been in my life for a long time, they're still very much a massive part of my life. "It was just a very, very easy decision in the end," she said. Their ages ranged from six to 40 years of age. 'Not a shock' Jack McGowan said he was "weirdly not shocked" by the numbers. He said he helps out with the organisation of some dance events and was familiar with all the girls. "I'm used to these big events with lots and lots of our dancers, so I strangely expected, nothing less," he said. Women dominated the day as Jack had only eight groomsmen. Traditionally, the groomsmen will share a dance with the bridesmaids. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's, The Nolan Show programme, Jack said, "the best man is still dancing today." Mark Johnston The bridesmaids chose their own dresses once Kathryn planned a colour scheme
