I'm talking to a friend of mine (will call her Jenn) who is getting married next summer. The night before the wedding, her original plan was to have the women in the bridal party stay at her house for a girls' night/sleepover before getting up early for our hair and make-up...meanwhile, the groom and his guys would be in a hotel suite close to the church. Apparently, some of the groomsmen have expressed that they will be traveling with their dates (some of them are 4 hours away), and wanted to see if their dates could be included (not going to the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner, but having a chance to tag along the night before instead of being cooped up in their hotel rooms). Additionally, between the wedding ceremony and reception, the bridal party will be taking pictures, both at the church and a local park. As of now, the groomsmen/groom expectation is that having the dates present while pictures are being taken wouldn't be a major problem, since they're driving together. This has thrown Jenn into a bit of a spiral...her stance is that she barely knows these women, and they "absolutely will NOT" be allowed to tag along while we take pictures. And, "if they can't handle being away from their SOs for the night before the wedding then they have serious issues." The groom wants the dates to be included, because he wants to be more accommodating to his friends.
Whew. Ok, so having laid it all out, is there some sort of protocol with respect to dates of the bridal party in a situation like this? I don't really have a dog in this fight, since my date will be hanging out with his old law school buddies the night before the wedding, but the bride is freaking out and I'm trying to give words of wisdom...