How to Be the Perfect Maid of Honor and 10 Things You’ll Need to Do
So, you’ve been chosen to be the bride’s Maid of Honor. How exciting! Whether this is your first rodeo as the Maid of Honor or your third, it’s still a title and task with some responsibility. Here’s a quick list of things you’ll need to do and how you can be the perfect Maid of Honor for your closest friend or family member.
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Check in with the bride and ensure she’s following her checklist. Many brides have a checklist they follow to ensure they get tasks completed on time. Part of your job as the Maid of Honor is to ensure she’s doing those tasks. Whether that means ensuring they’ve ordered their silicone wedding band sets or made their final payments on all their deposits, you should be there to help guide her through the process.
Be her shoulder to cry on. Planning a wedding is stressful! There will be times that she’s so overwhelmed that all she wants to do is cry. Be there for her and encourage her to cry if she needs to. From unavailable linens to her dress needing more alterations, there’s lots of reasons that could make her feel overwhelmed or frustrated. But, with you by her side, she’s sure to feel supported and encouraged!
Ask the bride what she’d like you to do. Each bride is different — and, while traditionally the Maid of Honor plans and hosts the shower, your bride might ask someone else. Check with her to see what she’d like for you to do. She might ask you to help pick out the bridesmaids’ dresses, attend design meetings with her or attend the cake tasting if the groom isn’t available. Whatever she asks you to do, your job as the Maid of Honor is to handle each task with excitement and joy.
Host a small get-together for all the bridesmaids. There’s a chance the bridesmaids might not know each other, and it’s important that they all get to meet before the wedding! Host a small get-together for all the bridesmaids. Whether it’s brunch at a local restaurant or a cookout at your house, there are lots of ways you can bring everyone together for a fun time getting to know each other. This will help your bride feel much more at ease about all her friends coming together to help her celebrate her wedding.
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Create a speech. There are some tasks that are standard for a Maid of Honor to do, and one of those is a toast during the reception. It can be tough to write a speech that really encapsulates your relationship with the bride, so it’s important that you take time early on to prepare. Think about all the things you love about the bride —whether she’s your biological sister or a close enough friend that you’re basically relatives at this point — and what you love about her and her fiance together. It’s important that you include her fiance in your toast because the wedding is about them coming together as one! You’ll also want to keep your toast short and sweet — under five minutes — so that you don’t ramble on for too long. If you’re really struggling to come up with something, there are lots of tips available for keeping the audience engaged and ensuring that you have a successful speech.
Take the bride’s items for her the morning of her wedding. A bride should never have to do anything on her wedding day, and that includes carrying all her own items! As the Maid of Honor, you should be in charge of all the bride’s possessions: from her stackable silicone rings to her go-bag at the end of the night, everything that she’ll be bringing with her should be part of your charge. All she should have to do is show up and enjoy her day. Of course, if there’s loads of luggage that needs to be carted around, be sure to enlist the help of the other bridesmaids so they can assist you in carrying items. But, overall, you should be responsible for the bride’s items and your own.
Help her pass out thank you notes. The day of the wedding, offer to help the bride pass out her thank you notes. She’ll be so busy talking with guests, dancing on the dance floor and enjoying her day that she will probably forget to hand them out to everyone. Help her out by offering to pass out all her thank you notes to her vendors. If she’s hired a coordinator, they’ll typically pass notes directly to vendors, but you can still help the bride by offering to at least pass the thank you notes along to her vendors.
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Assist in final payments. If the bride still has vendors left to pay on her wedding day, offer to pass payments along to them. Typically, the vendors who still need to be paid are the officiant, any ceremony musicians and sometimes bartenders. Most of the other vendors should have been paid in full by the wedding. You can also check in with the bride before her wedding to see if she needs any assistance in mailing out checks or scheduling appointments to make payments.
Get her to relax and have fun! Weddings are stressful, and too much stress on one person can cause a variety of health problems. As the Maid of Honor, it’s your job to ensure that the bride stays calm and relaxed in the days leading up to her wedding. Get her to sit back and enjoy a drink or two, make sure she stays hydrated and fed and encourage her to take a hot bath with oils and flower petals. It’ll really go a long way in keeping her from stressing out!
Mingle with guests. While not a requirement for Maids of Honor at all, you should still strive to mingle with guests. You’re the Maid of Honor and they should get to know you! Thank guests for coming as well. You’re there to support the bride, and one of the ways you can do that is by positively interacting with the guests and having a good time with them. Your bride will appreciate it!
If you need help planning your perfect wedding day, contact New Creations Weddings today!