While it is the most joyous occasion of any bride’s life, the wedding can quickly become a source of stress. From choosing the wedding venue to minute details, like chair decorations, everything must be in tip-top shape. Not to mention the pre-wedding preparations.
That’s where the maid of honor steps in – to lower the stress levels by taking on responsibilities and act as moral support.
While wedding planners in Connecticut may be a huge help in preparations, the maid of honor, who ensures the bride’s day goes as smoothly as possible, stays on top of all these. From preparations to the wedding day, checking in with the guests, catering to the bride’s every whim, being the party starter, and much more. Before the wedding day, the maid of honor also needs to help with the dress choice, planning the bachelorette party and bridal shower, and everything and anything the bride needs help with. This can be a challenging role to fill as well.
Here’s a list of duties the maid of honor needs to fulfill and take a portion of the pressure away from the bride.
Help choose the dress
Perhaps the most valuable and sacred duty of a maid of honor is to help the bride with the dress choice.
Saying ‘yes to the dress’ is perhaps the most daunting and stress inducing part of the wedding preparation for the bride. There’s a lot of pressure involved in looking perfect on the day, and any confidence boost or friendly advice is welcome.
Going to dress fittings, helping with the zip-up, honest opinions, and moral support – that’s the role of the maid of honor here. Most of the time, it just means agreeing when the bride looks happy.
Fill in the gaps of the wedding planner
Wedding planners are gaining in popularity exactly for these reasons – a wedding can cause so much stress that it defeats its own purpose.
Whether a wedding planner is involved or not, the bride always needs help with preparations – choosing, filling out, and sending the invitations. Designing the centerpieces. Creating the perfect seating arrangement.
Plan a night in, or a couple of them, paired with wine, and do all the boring stuff with the bride – that’ll make them less of a chore and more of a happy occasion.
Planning the Bachelorette Party
The bridal shower and bachelorette party – this is the part where the maid of honor shines. Making sure everyone’s invited, friends and relatives included, making sure the budget constraints are respected while keeping the bride’s wishes in mind.
This is no easy task, but no one can do it better than the maid of honor – she knows the bride best. In accordance with that, the maid of honor keeps the bride’s wishes in mind before anyone else’s and create the perfect overture to the big day.
Emotional support before, during, and after the wedding
The wedding day is an emotional rollercoaster for the bride. The maid of honor’s duty is to be there for her and support her with every trick in the book.
Again, the maid of honor knows the bride best, so she should actively try to deflect stressors and triggers while creating the most pleasant and soothing atmosphere she can. Drunk relatives, snooping mother-in-laws, wardrobe malfunctions, these can all tilt a bride and ruin the perfect day.
The maid of honor should be ready and on the lookout and protect the bride from disturbances.
Of course, it’s not all bad. On the contrary, most of it is joyous and exhilarating. The maid of honor should amplify these feelings and get hyped with the bride about the moments she will cherish for the rest of her life.
The Speech
There’s a chance the bride will choose you to hold a speech at the reception. Make sure you’re ready for this, and for god’s sake – don’t embarrass the bride.
Don’t mention any past loves, don’t criticize the groom or his family, don’t make obnoxious jokes, and try to set the spotlight on yourself. Keep it simple and sincere – speak about your love of the bride and the honor she bestowed upon you on that day. More importantly – keep it short. No one likes a long-winded speech.
Another great point of advice: if you’re up to giving a speech, try to control your alcohol intake. Slurring words is not a good look for a maid of honor.
Help with the honeymoon preparations
It’s tradition for the newlyweds to go on their honeymoon immediately after the reception. Lo and behold, another source of stress for the bride.
The maid of honor should offer to help the bride with packing for the honeymoon, as well as offer to help with the transportation. It may be the last duty you will have as an official maid of honor, so after the newlyweds are gone, you can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Have fun
A maid of honor’s most crucial job is – to get the party started and keep it rolling. The bride needs you to be in a good mood and in charge of the party.
With all the stress the maid of honor takes on during the wedding, this is not always easy. But the most valuable things never are.
Dance, invite others to the dance floor, and raise a couple of toasts, but don’t get too hammered. Make sure everyone is having a good time and lead by example.
Conclusion
A good maid of honor is involved, but not too pushy. She’s always there but doesn’t steal the spotlight from the bride. She knows all the ins and outs of the complicated day and is always on the lookout to clear confusion and prevent conflicts.
She’s there before, during and after the wedding and helps the bride keep calm and collected.
Most importantly, the maid of honor leads the party by example with dancing, laughing, and having an overall good time.
Weddings are invariably stressful – a good maid of honor makes sure the bride feels it as little as possible.
