Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids Are Special People

By Anna Lynn Sibal

Most women consider it an honor to be asked to play the role of the bridesmaid. The bridesmaid holds a special position in the bridal party. While the entire privilege of being the bride's right hand woman falls to the maid of honor, the bridesmaids are no less privileged. They get to have a hand at helping the bride plan out and prepare the details of her wedding.

A lot of women who have been invited to become bridesmaids are somewhat confused with what exactly they should do to fulfill their roles. Not a few even believe that all a bridesmaid has to do is to look pretty and to march down the aisle ahead of the bride.

As much as bridesmaids need to look lovely on the date of their friend's wedding, their responsibilities are not limited there. Here is a summary of the special tasks that a bridesmaid should perform.

Run Errands for the Bride

There are times that the bride-to-be will not able to devote enough time to some tasks such as picking up swatches of cloth, or perhaps a catalog for the bridal favors. The bridesmaid can do these errands for her. She can also help out with making bouquets and handmade bridal favors if the bride asks her to.

Hold Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party

Another one of the bridesmaid's responsibilities is to aid in sending the bride off on her new path in life. She holds a bridal shower so that the bride can receive gifts from well-meaning friends and family members, which she can use in her new household.

The bridesmaid also helps the bride say goodbye to her single-blessedness. A typical way of doing it is by taking the bride on a round of clubs and bars and partying until they drop. Of course, the bride may choose just to have a few drinks with her girlfriends as a way of saying farewell.

Play Hostess at the Wedding Reception

Part of the responsibilities of the bridesmaid is to keep the guests entertained during the wedding reception. The bride may be too busy to spend more than just a few minutes with the guests, so she should be able to count on her bridesmaids to help her with that. To accomplish this, the bridesmaid can do small talk with guests as well as do some shaking on the dance floor.

Shoulder Some Expenses

A lot of brides prefer to take care of the costs of dressing up everyone in their bridal party, including their bridesmaids. However, not all brides can afford that. In this case, it would be up to the bride to pay for her dress, as well as her hair and makeup. If she is feeling generous, she can also contribute some money towards the wedding fund itself so that the bride can have the wedding favors, the flowers or any other detail that she wants.

Emotional Support

Perhaps this is the most important duty that the bridesmaid has. She has to be the bride’s emotional prop when the stress of preparing for the wedding gets to her, especially during those times when the bride could not turn to her fiancé or to her mother for her concerns. In these times, the bridesmaid would need to remind the bride why she was going through all the stress in the first place.

Bridesmaids are special people with special responsibilities in the course of preparing for the wedding. They are not just there to be pretty props on the day of the wedding itself.