Being a bridesmaid is a fun and exciting job. If you’re lucky enough to be cast, find out exactly what bridesmaid duties are and what the role includes here…
Being a bridesmaid is an honour and an opportunity to make lifelong memories with your mates. Whether you are chosen by a BFF, sister, or relative, you are essential in forming a support network for the bride and helping her plan her big day. But there’s more to bridesmaid duties than just looking stunning and being a shoulder to cry on!
Not all bridesmaid duties are attractive, but are essential to the smooth running of celebrations. To ensure you’re 100% ready for the big day, we’ve put together some top tips for being the best bridesmaid. Advice that should help score you some ‘maid points and make your bride the happiest there has ever been.
Find Out All the Bridesmaid Duties You Should Expect
Go Bridesmaid Dress Shopping
You’ll need to go bridal and bridesmaid shopping with the bride, and it’s likely this is one of the duties you’re most excited about. What colour will your look be? What style will the bridesmaids wear? It’s so much fun! Go wedding dress shopping is pretty great too!
The maid of honour’s role involves helping to arrange a day when everyone can get together to try bridesmaids dresses on. Try to be flexible, particularly when there’s a big group to organise.
Remember that it can be hard to dress and coordinate everyone at once, so if you have any concerns, address them calmly as soon as possible. Help the bride achieve her vision, and keep in mind that she always has the final word.
More importantly, you should make sure that you establish with the bride, from the beginning, who will pay for the gowns. Make sure you include any extras such as accessories, hair, and makeup, too.
Traditionally, the bride pays for what she wants the bridesmaids to wear, but this isn’t always the case, so make sure everyone’s on the same page to avoid any awkwardness.
Wedding Planning
Bridesmaids are often expected to help the bride with different parts of the wedding planning process. With different tasks handed out according to individual skills and talents.
If you’re good at crafts, the bridesmaids might ask you to help them with DIY wedding gifts, while those with a talent for design might be asked to lend a hand with stationery. There’s also RSVPs that need to be chased, menu options to be organised, and issues with wedding suppliers to be fixed.
Be prepared to help with any wedding admin – and do so with a smile. It’s all part of being a bridesmaid!
Plan the Hen Party
The maid of honour is usually in charge of organizing the hen party, but they may assign other tasks to you to help out. Prepare ideas to help the maid of honour plan the perfect day, and consider what things you can do to help with the hen do planning.
One bridesmaid could gather some hen party challenges for everyone to try, while others could contact the groom to get the Mr and Mrs Quiz answers – a hen party essential!
Games offer a great way of breaking the ice if you have a large group of bridesmaids who don’t all know each other well.
Get Ready with the Bride
If you aren’t already with the bride on the morning of the wedding, go over to her hotel and assist her in getting ready. While the maid of honour attends to the bride, the adult bridesmaids can assist any younger bridesmaids and flower girls.
Bridesmaids typically travel to the wedding ceremony with the maid of honour and the bride’s mother, leaving the bride to travel with her father. The bridesmaids should arrive ten minutes before the bride so that they can see her arrive.
Host & Help at the Reception
During the wedding reception, the bridesmaids should be available to assist with anything the bride may need. From makeup touch-ups, to assistance going to the bathroom, and taking charge of the emergency bag.
Keep an eye out to make sure the bride has something to drink (non-booze) and has eaten properly as the evening progresses.
