If you have a large family, you already know how hard it can be to include everyone in everything; this problem can seem massive when you’re trying to plan a wedding.

If you don’t want a gigantic wedding party, but still want to incorporate your large family or group of friends into your wedding, there are many options.

Sarah Trotter, owner of Lasting Impressions in Minneapolis, Minn., offers advice for couples that want to involve everyone in their big day: Be creative. Trotter said she has seen couples do many creative things with the extra family members and friends in their weddings.

She was the planner for a couple that had an outdoor wedding, and in the beginning of the ceremony the couple’s brothers and sisters carried an archway up the aisle that the bride and groom later stood under when they said their vows.

She has also seen a bride who decided, because she already had enough bridesmaids, to have her husband’s four sisters carry candles up the aisle at the beginning of the wedding and set them on the alter.

“Huge wedding parties were really in just a few years ago,” Trotter said.

Nowadays, it is more common to see smaller wedding parties and other small roles for friends or family members to take on. She said weddings include a lot of activities besides the actual ceremony, including the rehearsal dinner and brunches.

Giving someone the title of host of one of these activities is an easy way to make them an integral part of the wedding process. Including someone doesn’t have to mean giving them a task to do. It can be as simple as mentioning them in the wedding bulletin or program as an honored attendant.

Trotter has seen success for brides whom send out mass e-mails to everyone involved letting them know what is going on and what needs to happen and to keep communication open.

Trotter said it’s important to keep in mind that the more people you include, the more complicated and expensive things will be. She said the average bridal party is 12-14 people, and the average cost per attendant is $100.

It just takes some creativity, open communication and realistic expectations.”It’s your day, do what you want to do,” Trotter said.