Bridesmaid duties

sarmer

I've just been asked to be a bridesmaid and I'm so excited! However, I've never done it before and haven't been to a wedding in years (She's the first out of my group to get married) so would just like some tips or advice. I know I have to support her and help organise the hen but what else is expected of me?

Thanks

Aine5

Hi

I'm also a first time bridesmaid and I love it. Was over the moon when I was asked.
The wedding is this Sept and I've helped out as much as possible and to be honest I find it all so exciting. I helped arrange the band, went invitation shopping and now the bride has decided she would like us to make the invitations, so I will also help with that and its a great days fun when you go dress shopping, we had such a laugh:)
The important thing is for everyone to have as much fun as possible, after all you have been asked to take part in the happiest day of your friends life.

We're in the middle of organising the hen party at the min. Roll on July

bellabloo

Hi girls
Congrats on being asked to be BM its such an honour (in my eyes anyway)
as a recent bride the best advice I can give you is to be excited for the bride,, she will be excited and want to talk about the wedding and maybe feel shes boring colleagues at work, other friends or family etc and that is where you come in.. be enthusuastic and enjoy the closeness that this task will give you.
Practically , there will be jobs in the run up such as stamping invites, organising hen and picking out accessories not to mention learning how to get the bride into her dress perfectly (and bustle it also if theres a train.)

I would also say that the morning of the wedding is very important. I had the best BM for my wedidng- (my sis) she orgsnised my hen, helped make invites and did absolutely loads of enthusiasm for me but I do feel when ilook back at it that she let me down a little on the day . God I wouldnt swap her for the world but there were things I presumed she;d know that she needed to do and she didnt so hence she didnt do them.

These are:
be ready early and be able to help the bride into her dress..(my bm was flustered the morning of the wedding and needed to take a moment to herself and this co incided with me getting dressed and i ended up zipping up my dress on my own- not a good idea as when I put back down my arms there was flesh popping out over the top that shouldnthave been and wouldnt have been if someone else had zipped me in- am not overweight just dress was designed to go on to a flat back not a stretched one,.. anyway i only noticed when we got our dvd and its a pity cos i paid a fortune for my hand made dress to fit me right.
be helpful.. but dont overcrowd. - my dress had a long train and it needed fixing for photos.. my junior Bm ended up doing this alot of the time as my sis was more concerned about how she looked.. sound bitchy but not meant that way.. she just is sefl concious and being in front of the camera put her off form.. try to get the balance right as she just married her beloved and wants some couple time too! lol.
enjoy the day. really important as a genuine smile will show in photos and video.. it shouldnt be too hard as you will be delighted to be having a day out in a posh frock .
Carry a few essentials for the bride she will need lip gloss and powder top ups during the night for photos.. also maybe put togther a kit of things like spare tights., baby wipes deodorant plasters and some safety pins and keep them in your room so that if she needs them then you have them for her and she will love you forever (not that she doesnt already!) My Bm did this but once the dancing started forgot that I might need anything and couldnt be found so when it came time to pin up my train for first dance she couldnt be found and I had to do my first dance with a half done bustle. which brings me to
stay close at hand for prime moments- like the first dance.. , bouquet toss even toilet going can be hazardous in a bridal gown!

God I really went into that in depth didnt I? Lol.. Hope im not after frightening you girls off .. ive been bm a few times and will be again this summer so I guess I think I know it all but this is my opinion anyway and hopefully you found it helpful!

Best of luck girls and enjoy enjoy enjoy!
bella xx

Heineken Helen

Bella could you please have a word with my bridesmaids... they've been pretty useless so far

I think bridesmaids are traditionally supposed to be single and I now understand why... they'd have more time and enthusiasm. My original bridesmaids, one through no fault of her own, haven't had much of either of those. I've since asked another friend to be one too as she was the only one in a position to really help me and was really going out of her way to do so... she's been great. But I think the others are going to have to work for their dress cos I would see it as an honour to be asked.

Location's a problem for me though as I'm living in England and three of them are in Ireland... but there is always email, facebook, skype, phones etc so that's no excuse.

So, as a bride to be, I think your main duty is to encourage the bride and ASK her stuff... if she needs anything to be done... mention specific things and ask what she's planning on doing and if you spot something you're capable of doing, just say 'do you want me to do that for ya?'. AND just be excited for her!

sarmer

Thanks for all the advice! It's great to get some tips!!

The bride is actually currently living in the US so has to organise everything from there so I said to her that if she needs me to do anything all she has to do is ask! I think it'll be pretty hard to do everything from there so she will probably need the bridesmaids to do a good bit of the work on this side.

I'm meeting her for lunch this week so we can have a proper chat about what she needs me to do. I'm very excited though - so chuffed to be asked