bridesperson

English

Alternative forms

brideperson

Etymology

From bride +‎ -s- +‎ -person.

Noun

bridesperson (plural bridespersons or bridespeople)

An attendant to a bride.
- 1862 December, “Reflections on My Daughter’s Marriage”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume VI, number 36, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], page 811:
  This is what my young bride, and my young bridegroom, and the whole bevy of bridespeople, never gave a thought to.
- 1982, Joan Juliet Buck, “Epilogue”, in The Only Place to Be, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →ISBN, page 452:
  Raoul gave Paula away, and Breeze, his long de Vigny locks flowing over a white smock, acted as the bridesperson.
- 1990 October, Cheryl Reavis, “Epilogue”, in Patrick Gallagher’s Widow (Silhouette Special Edition; 627), New York, N.Y.: Silhouette Books, →ISBN, page 249:
  The music changed; the bridespersons were coming—Rosie Madden and her braids, and Debbie and all of Saint Xavier’s kindergarten.
- 2002 spring, Rebecca Plona Peterson, quotee, “[Class Notes] 95”, in Middlebury Magazine, volume 76, number 2, Middlebury, Vt.: Middlebury College, →ISSN, page 69, column 1:
  In August I married Chris Peterson at the Topnotch Resort in Stowe, with Janine Hetherington, Bert Stewart, Rick Balakier, and Steve Sidore serving as ‘bridespeople.’
- 2005 January, Alexandra Sellers, The Fierce and Tender Sheikh (Silhouette Desire, 1629; Sons of the Desert, 11), New York, N.Y.: Silhouette Books, →ISBN, page 177:
  “We come for our brides!” / “Does a man seek a bride on horseback?” the bridespeople challenged. / The men consulted and then dismounted, and as their followers parted to form a way for them, the three handsome bridegrooms, their golden coats fluttering on the wind, strode forward. / “Bring us our brides!” they shouted ferociously, and the crowd of bridespeople fell back.