“Maid of Honor”, “Bridesmaid”, “Best Man”. People throw these terms around all the time but really, what do these participants in the wedding party do? What kinds of duties and responsibilities do they have? These change according to different cultures but for Western/American culture, there are pretty standard “rules” when it comes to the wedding party.

the Maid/Matron of Honor:

Usually, the maid/matron of honor is a close friend or sister and at large weddings, brides can have more than one maid/matron of honor. Essentially, the maid/matron of honor is the person we would call the bride’s right hand woman!

Some of her duties include:

• Help the bride pick out all the dresses and tuxedos for the bridal party and confirm that everyone has received their outfits
• Help the bride address and send out wedding invitations and keep track of the guestlist as RSVPs start to arrive
• Help the bride make and/or prepare wedding favors
• With the bridesmaids, host the bridal shower and bachelorette party
• Spread the word about bridal registries and various other details about the wedding not mentioned in the wedding invitations (ie: no children at ceremony or reception)
• Help the bride get dressed before the ceremony, making sure the veil and train are just perfect during the ceremony and holding the bouquet during vows
• Keep the groom’s ring until the vows
• Help the DJ, photographer and/or videographer with guests’ names
• Member of the receiving line and legal witness on marriage certificate
• Most importantly: moral support!

the Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids are usually close friends or relatives of the bride and groom. They are the support team for both the bride and the maid/matron of honor. There is no set number of bridesmaids that one can have but usually, it’s best to limit it to around 8 and make it even with the number of ushers for the wedding party.

Some of their duties include:

• Help the bride and maid/matron of honor as much as possible when needed throughout the wedding planning process
• With the maid/matron of honor, plan the bridal shower and bachelorette party
• Help act as hostess at the wedding reception, ensuring that all guests are comfortable and having a great time

the Best Man

Usually the best man is a close friend or brother of the groom. He is pretty much the groom’s personal assistant and advisor.

His duties include:

• With the groomsmen, plan and host the bachelor party
• Help the groom on his wedding day and get him to the ceremony on time
• Keep the bride’s ring until the vow are exchanged
• Hand out payment to vendors so the bride and groom can enjoy themselves
• Giving the first toast, the infamous wedding speech
• Arrange and decorate the getaway vehicle and making sure the newlyweds have everything (including documents such as passport) before their honeymoon

the Groomsmen

These are usually friends of the bride and groom and there, again, is no official limit on the number of groomsmen but usually the cap is at 8 and should be even with the number of bridesmaids.

Their duties include:

• Act as support team for groom and best man
• Help plan the bachelor party and attend all pre-wedding festivities
• Seat guests and family before the ceremony begins
• Unroll aisle runner after guests are seated (this is right before the wedding processional starts)
• Distribute wedding programs if any and direct guests to reception

Feed | Post a Comment |Trackback