Lindsay and Derik Gaworski of Sarver wanted to be surrounded by friends when they said “I do.” They started by asking 25 to stand at the alter.

“I have several different groups of friends: my friends from home, my friends from college and my friends from work,” said Lindsay. “When I thought of the people I want to surround me, they were people who years from now I know I would have wanted there that day,” said Lindsay.

The Gaworskis were married Dec. 3, 2011, at Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

In their bridal party, they had two maids of honor, two best men, 10 bridesmaids, eight groomsmen, two flower girls and one ring bearer.

“That's our joke, when people ask did you have a big wedding? We say, 'Not really. Just 300 people, but the bridal party was 25,” Lindsay said.

It can be difficult for brides and grooms to decide who will stand with them at the ceremony.

“It might be overwhelming at first, but the bride knows what she wants and she wants to include the people she wants to include,” said Derik. “As long as there are quality plans and coordinating, everything will work out.”

Jennifer and Joseph Pistorius wanted family to join them at the alter for their wedding.

With one maid of honor, one matron of honor, one best man, seven bridesmaids, seven groomsmen, three junior bridesmaids and a flower girl, they made their desire a reality.

“I have a really big family so it was either only have my sister, my best friend and his sister or everybody,” said Jennifer. “So I decided to have everybody.”

The Pistoriuses were married June 2 at First United Methodist Church.

Both Jennifer and Lindsay said when picking a bridal party, it's important to be surrounded by people who will support the bride and groom's decisions and not cause arguments.

“Sometimes bridesmaids want to take over or be in control but none of mine really did that,” said Jennifer. “They were all like, 'What do you want to do' or 'How do you want this done?'”

Lindsay was also very pleased with the support she got from her large party.

“They truly made it about me. Anytime you put 12 girls in the room and tell them to have the same idea, it's not usually going to happen,” Lindsay said. “I'm sure there was disagreements, but they didn't make it to (Derik and I.)”

Some things to consider when choosing the bridal party are transportation, scheduling and cooperation, Lindsay said.

“Financially, you go from looking at a 12 person limo to a 30 person bus, that obviously increases,” Lindsay said.

Jennifer fixed the transportation issue by having the bridal party drive in family trucks they already owned to go with her western theme.

When entering the reception at Laube Hall, Lindsay chose to have the guys walk in first and the girls follow as if they were entering a party.

The bridal party also ate family style, sitting around a large table on both sides.

Jennifer had her large party enter traditionally into the East Butler Fire Hall before sitting on one side of a very large table that was almost the entire length of the hall.

Preparing for the big day with a bigger group also comes with more scheduling conflicts.“I just kind of stopped worrying about having everybody there because with that many people it's difficult,” Jennifer said. “I pretty much gave them the dates of things in advanced and most of them could make it.”Jennifer said since most of her bridal party was younger cousins about the same size, it was easy to pick a dress that fit all of them and looked amazing.When deciding on details of the wedding, both brides agreed it's important to do what the bride and groom want, not what everyone else wants.“Don't take everything too serious. You're not going to please everyone,” Lindsay said.Overall, Jennifer and Lindsay had great big wedding party experiences. They both attribute the perfect day to surrounding themselves with people who love them and cared more about the bride and groom then anything else.“It's easy to get caught up in the planning and the details and you can easily lose sight of what the marriage is about,” Lindsay said. “Fortunately, if you are surrounded by a good group of people, they will take care of that.”