In every wedding, the bride and groom are always the center of attention, but behind a successful celebration is the participation of your friends and loved ones standing close by your side as bridesmaids and groomsmen. You might think that it is an easy task, assigning them a title, asking them to be there at your wedding and you’re all good. However, there are some things you need to consider first before assembling your dream bridal squad.
Roles and Responsibility of Bridesmaids
With a series of rollercoaster emotions expected to accompany every bride’s wedding journey, a bridesmaid or maid of honor must help her through the process. Even with previous experience, chances are that there are still going to be conflicts, unclear responsibilities, and etiquette questions. It’s a fun experience but there is more to the role than just standing beside the altar looking fabulous and planning the bachelorette party, yet it is highly encouraging to do both. It might sound like a huge responsibility, and it is, but do not worry as this guide will help you start your bridesmaid journey.
Different Types of Bridesmaids in Wedding Party
In every group, you’ll be sure to find a mix of different characters and personalities. The same goes for the types of bridesmaids. From the single and ready to mingle, the one who’s always running late up to the strict perfectionist, you’ll be sure to find these types of bridesmaids at every single wedding celebration. With this bunch, each has its strengths and weaknesses bound to make your day a quite meaningful and interesting experience.
The One Who Thinks She’s The Type-A Wedding Planner
This can be a dream come true for a lot of brides, especially with a member of the squad always there ready to help out with all the wedding preparations. However, chances are she might get swept up with all the anticipation thinking it’s her wedding, and offering you various bits of wedding advice. Give her a to-do list instead of letting her have her way.
The One Who’s Single and So Ready to Mingle
Fun, life of the party and doesn’t mind getting matched up with any of the eligible bachelors that will be attending your wedding. She is the first one out there reaching up high for the bouquet and better yet leaving the wedding venue with a few potential dates lined up.
The One Who’s Always Running Late
One of the bride’s worst nightmares is the thought of having some of her bridesmaids lost, missing, or unprepared. There is for sure one in every group, you’ll just have to be patient as her tardiness won’t change despite having notified them ahead of time.
The One Who’s Always a Bridesmaid
Having someone who’s experienced being in the bridal squad multiple times sure comes with great benefits. She can be reliable enough to answer all your wedding queries and serve as an aid to your maid of honor, getting a hold of everyone, and giving you a stress-free party mood.
The One Who’s the Life of the Party
She for sure got all the moves and knows how to have fun. You can always count on her to get your party started since she is the first one to offer shots to the other members or get people easily on the dancefloor good enough to make it a memorable celebration.
How to Choose Bridesmaids?
Couples nowadays opt to invite loved ones not meant to just be guests since behind every great wedding is a dedicated group of people working behind the scenes and as beloved guests of the bride and groom. They each play an important role in your special day. No, they don’t get paid so they do their duties purely out of love and support for the couple.
The wedding squad, if you choose to call it, has each member playing a significant role leading up to the wedding day itself so best acknowledge their roles as it would affect the whole experience. With that said, how would you exactly choose your bridal party, and what are their responsibilities?
Look Around Your Social Circle
A great place to start is mixing and matching important people from your personal life such as relatives, childhood friends, classmates leading up to the people you work with. Unless you are fortunate enough to belong to a big circle of friends, you may include everyone from the same group, which makes your life easier. So even if you choose to group strangers, they’ll surely have plenty of time to get to know one another and grow closer together throughout the wedding activities.
Traditionally, brides and grooms balance their lineup with having an equal number of men and women entourages but that doesn’t seem to be the case nowadays as it is completely up to you. Before you start making some major decisions, determine first how many bridesmaids you want for your entourage. Think about how much space you’ll have and the number of people attending as well as the cost for each, and lastly, the size of both parties.
In determining who to include in the list, you might want to consider listing down each prospective bridesmaid’s name along with your relationship with her. Is she reliable, and would she have the time for the responsibilities that accompany the role? Decide what your expectation is with them. Do you want them to be actively involved – from wedding planning up to the selection of dresses or just completely stick their role to the ceremony itself but be prepared to expect some tears as some would have hurt feelings, especially those whom you weren’t able to include in the final list?
Explain Why They Were Chosen and Not
Whatever the case is, do note that you can’t please and make everybody happy but you can simply limit those hurt feelings by stating how much you still value your friendship or have them repositioned for another role. In some cases, someone might turn you down but be completely understanding and accept her wishes. Let her know your desire to wish for her attendance at the ceremony and reception instead.
With all that said, one major no-no is to ask someone merely because they asked you to be in theirs. Never ask just to return a favor. If they want to know why they aren’t invited, then be completely honest and explain that it was a tough decision to only include people closest to you at this point in your life.
Bridesmaids FAQS
Should Bridesmaids Be Single or Married?
Bridesmaids can either be single or married as your bridal party should be comprised of people who you care about and who care about you. The whole idea of exclusively having only unmarried women part of the bridal squad is all in the past so there is no reason for you to not ask your married friends to be one.
Why Bridesmaids Wear White?
With probably the multiple times you’ve been invited to a wedding, you see the bride wearing white with a train of bridesmaids usually all wearing the same dress color. If you want to go for a fresher, more polished look then an all-white or off-white dress for the bridesmaids may be the right choice for you.
A lot of the brides have opted for a white theme ceremony, but there’s no reason for you to not add a pop of color by wearing jeweled accessories matched with bright bouquets. Everything can easily stand out in a white palette.
Designers have long been working with different shades of white for quite some time now, so you’ll probably have fewer things to worry about as you’ll have a whole set of designs to choose from. Traditionally, the concept came from ancient Rome as a way to ward off any evil spirits safely disguising as one of the members of the group. However, in recent years, it has become a popular trend to have the styles and color mixed up within the bridal party.
Are Bridesmaids Gifts Necessary?
As tokens of appreciation for all the time, energy, and effort spent in helping make your wedding special, brides usually prepare bridesmaids’ gifts. But finding the perfect gift can be quite difficult and challenging as all the wedding preparations have already occupied your time. Customarily, it is also appropriate to buy gifts for other participants like the maid of honor, mother of the bride and groom, as well as the flower girls.
There are no rules on when you should start buying but just to be safe, the earlier the better. On the other hand, the amount to be spent on the gift will depend on your wedding budget. So, if you plan on buying personalized gifts, best to schedule them earlier as these take a longer time to prepare. Just make sure you give the gifts out on the actual wedding week itself. They’ll surely appreciate and thank you for that.
Do Bridesmaids Need Bouquets?
Playing an important part in any wedding ceremony, flowers help add beauty, but they do not need to be expensive. Since your bridesmaids will be among the most photographed groups, you might want to make sure their attire is picture-perfect along with their accessories. You may or may not opt to have them hold flowers but a small clutch as an alternative will do.