Picking bridesmaids...help!!!

I'm getting married in August 2025 and having a difficult time deciding who to ask to be a bridesmaid, so wanted to ask Weddit for your input!!! I'm currently between having either 4 or 8 bridesmaids (and groom's side would match), so we'd either have a wedding party with 8 or 16 people total.

Option 1: 4 Bridesmaids, 4 Groomsmen

These 4 bridesmaids are my ride or dies and my non-negotiables consisting of my high school best friend, my two college best friends, and my sister. Pros of having smaller wedding party is that I can treat them well (for sticking next to me all of these years!) and pay for their dress, and a nice bridesmaid favor. We already have a designated budget for wedding party favors, which we would not be able to increase even if we increased our wedding party. It would also be a more intimate experience getting ready with them and not as chaotic trying to organize and coordinate with fewer people.

Option 2: 8 Bridesmaids, 8 Groomsmen

There are three additional girls in my college friend group that I was close to, but not best friends with. Two of them are also getting married next year, and both have asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding already (in addition to my 2 college best friends). One of them has already implied that they would be hurt if they were not my bridesmaid. The additional fourth bridesmaid would be a close friend who moved abroad, and would travel from Europe to the US for my wedding (but feelings would DEFINITELY be hurt if she were my bridesmaid, but my other college friends weren't). Pro of having large wedding party is that there's more people surrounding you who love you and want to celebrate your special day with (and no hurt feelings). Con is that we wouldn't be able to treat our wedding party as well since budget is same, but double the amount of people, and also a much less intimate getting-ready experience with so many people in the room (moms would be with us in the bridal suite as well).

Is having a 16 person wedding party for a wedding with approximately 170 guests wayyyy too much? That'd be almost 10% of our guests standing with us during ceremony.

Note: Groom's side only has 2 "must-have" groomsmen, and he's flexible on the rest and doesn't have any strong feelings about 4 vs 8 groomsmen.

What was your bridal party experience like, and given my situation, would you pick 4 or 8 bridesmaids? Would love any thoughts or personal experience you can share about going big or going small!!!

Edit: After reading all these helpful comments, final decision is we're gonna go with 4 each, and just invite the others to bachelorette/readings/be our ushers. Thank you all for all your insight and thoughts! ❤️ Wedding planning has honestly just been an exercise in being decisive and saying “no” to people, so thank you Weddit for the support.