A perfect marriage couldn’t happen without a perfect Maid of Honour. She’s there to hold the Bride’s hand through every emotion a wedding can bring, and to make sure that everything runs smoothly leading up to, and including, the big day.
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Although being the Maid of Honour is an incredible privilege, it’s also a huge task to take on so you have to be prepared. It’s up to you to help the Bride through everything, from shopping to talking down her pre-wedding jitters.
You’re the strong and sensible helping hand and need to be able to hold that role through thick and thin, so here are some tips to help you along your way.
Finding the Dress
For the Bride, this will be one of the most important aspects of her wedding, so it’s up to you to organise where and when you’ll be looking for the dress.
Obviously the Bride will have a preference when it comes to dresses, so be sure to research what kind she’s looking for and then locate the best places to look for the dress.
Be honest when it comes to what suits her. Although it’s common for friends to just agree with each other, this won’t work here. She’ll appreciate an honest opinion and your honest reactions will lead her to know which one is the perfect dress when she finally finds it.
Remember to take a camera to take photos of each dress. Take pictures from different angles so that you can compare them all later and get a feel for how the dresses will look in the wedding pictures.
Once the Bride has settled on a dress, it’s your job to keep it under wraps. Don’t go telling everyone what it looks like, and certainly don’t let word get back to the Groom!
Don’t Upstage The Bride
This is important in all aspects of the wedding but particularly when picking the Bridesmaids dresses. Don’t go picking something because you like it and it looks good on you, all the Bridesmaids need to be catered for and so leave the final decision to the Bride.
The Bridesmaid’s hair and make-up should remain minimal and understated, but keep a classic, clean and fresh look. Leave the fancy up-dos and make-up for the Bride.
There is such a thing as upstaging the Bride because you look so bad. If the Bride is forcing you to wear a puffy sleeved floral nightmare to ensure that all eyes will be firmly on her, then gently let her know that it’ll have the opposite effect, leaving all eyes on the monstrosity that is the Bridal Party.
Pick Up the Slack
There are many things that the Bride will wish to be in charge of; seating plans, how the invites look, the flower arrangements to name a few, but offer to help with all of them.
A great way to take the load of the Bride is to become her personal UPS delivery service. If you can, pick up the flowers, cake, wedding invites, any relatives that are coming to stay and dresses/suits then that will really help her out.
Help the Groom out as well, the Bride will thank you massively for that after the wedding. Make sure the Groom has his suit and the Groomsmen suits sorted and that he’s got all his hair appointments ready in time for the big day.
The Hen Party
As the Maid of Honour, this duty is solely on you. This will be the Bride’s big reward for all the hard work she’s put into the wedding so you’ve got to make it good!
Although you’ll want to let you hair down and give yourself a pat on the back for all your help, you’ll need to stay relatively sober to ensure everything runs smoothly.
For some great Hen Party ideas, see our previous article about how the throw a great Hen Party - Top Tips For A Perfect Hen Night
The Wedding Day
The day has finally arrived, and if you think you’re work is done, you couldn’t be more wrong. Everything up to now will have seemed easy compared to the actually wedding day.
You are basically to wait on the Bride hand and foot, get her drinks, food, a bucket for the pre-wedding nerves, basically anything she asks!
You’ll also have to be stern with her. You’ll have to make sure you’re all running on time to avoid getting to the church late, so that’ll mean curbing the inevitable diva strop.
You’ll also have to talk down her nerves when she gets cold feet, even though it’ll be tempting just to let her have her own way, you’ll need to stay strong and make her go through with it.
Once all is well and the happy couple are legally bound, everyone has had a good meal and are slightly merry, you can let you hair down and feel proud that you’ve been the best Maid of Honour anyone could ever hope for.
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