Congratulations! You’ve been asked to be a bridesmaid. But…what are you supposed to do? What’s your role? First and foremost, you’re supposed to be helpful. You’re supposed to help physically, emotionally, and financially.
Offer to help the bride in anyway you can. However, don’t just ask “how can I help?” Be specific. For instance, ask “would you like help picking out the bridesmaid dresses?” Or, “do you need help prepping and sending out the invitations?”
In addition, offer the bride emotional support and strength during the planning stage as well as the wedding day. Whether she’s stressed out with the wedding preparations, or her last few days of being single, or even on the day of the event, getting married can quickly become an emotional rollercoaster (especially…if she didn’t hire such wedding professionals as Villa Incanta to plan and manage the wedding). As a bridesmaid, you must be her backbone when she becomes weak.
And yes…you should even provide financial support. I’m not saying pay her bills, but you should pay for your wedding-day ensemble (shoes and jewelry included) as well as split the costs of the bridal shower and bachelorette party with the other bridesmaids and maid of honor.
In addition, rather than just simply walking down the aisle and posing for pics, you must help out during the wedding. Responsibilities can include helping the bride get ready for the ceremony and reception, offering her drinks (as she’ll be too busy to fill her glass up herself), talking to guests to assure they’re having a good time, dancing with groomsmen to avoid awkward moments of empty dance floors, and making sure the bride has everything she needs.
Trivia…once the wedding is over, do you think your responsibilities end? Nope! After the wedding, the bride most likely is off to her honeymoon. Therefore, you should help out with making sure she has everything she needs packed for the trip. In addition, you can assist with picking up the disposable cameras usually left on the tables for reception pics and have them developed, take her gown to the cleaners, have it preserved, and assure her home is ready for when she arrives back from her honeymoon.
As you can see…while quite an honor, being a bridesmaid is no easy task. It requires a lot of time and energy to help create the bride’s special day. As mentioned earlier, you should help out physically, emotionally, and financially. But as Villa Incanta’s wedding planner, Samantha Potter, described…”you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” In other words, via helping the bride out…you’re helping her make her magical day truly special…and one day she could return the favor.
