Instead, Annie joking referred to her “bridesmaids” as “supporters” – which included her best female friend Louise, her brother Dan, and her oldest friend Lilly. “They were 'allowed' to wear whatever they liked and we didn’t have a colour scheme, because, frankly, I’d rather have a laid back wedding with all of us having an ace time than people terrified to eat in case they spill wine on themselves.”

Although I like the idea of tradition as much as the next person, I’m not such a fan of traditions that continue to box women into people who coo over flowers and dresses, and as in the film Bridesmaids, get super competitive over wedding organisation. Yet, for many women I speak to, bridesmaids still play a special part in weddings, and it’s a tradition they would be unhappy to lose.

For Kate, being a bridesmaid was important because it meant being there for one of her closest friends on an important day in her life. “It turned out she did need the emotional support, and it was nice to give it and feel involved. Being a bridesmaid for my friend made me feel an important part of her future as well, in a way that simply being a witness for my brother's wedding did not. I chose to have bridesmaids at my wedding for the same reason, I guess. I wanted them to feel included in my future, but I also wanted to recognise their contribution to helping me (indeed, us) get to this stage.”

Choosing who will be your bridesmaids can cause added stress at a wedding, but for Elena, it was important to ask the right people for a support network. “I am pro-bridesmaids if you need a support network but I don't think you should ever be bullied into having someone because you were one at theirs or you've known them forever," she says. "One of my bridesmaids stayed with me at my mum's the night before the wedding and I wouldn't have had it any other way."