Last year, one of my girlfriends invited me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I was thrilled, and accepted happily. I had no idea what it all involved. Be careful if you get a similar invitation, don’t accept until you consider all of the duties involved.
Have you ever heard jokes about unattractive bridesmaids dresses? Those jokes exist for a reason. You’ll be asked to wear a horrid dress you will never want to wear again. Worse, the dress will be expensive and you will be expected to pay for it yourself. Oh, and if it doesn’t fit right, you can figure on altering it for fit at your own expense as well.
But wait, there’s more. You also have a bridal shower. This is like a formal party to celebrate the bride. Guess who plans this? The bridesmaid! You have to plan it and organize it, find the location, invite all of the guests, figure out the food and order it, and so on.
Your friend will also expect a bachelorette party. Bridesmaids, especially the maid of honor, will be the ones to plan this for the bride and her friends. This used to be a very easygoing event but increasingly the parties are becoming big affairs or even destination events. You may have to travel to a different city, or to an exotic island, just to host a party for your bride.
The wedding day and the day before are both also stressful for bridesmaids. Figure that they day before is dedicated to primping and appearance like having mani/pedi’s and then you have the rehearsal.
On the wedding day, you’ll have tasks to do all day long and it will be pretty complicated. When I was a bridesmaid, they used a color-coded chart so that I knew where to be and when. It was kind of crazy. I was tracked from nine a.m. until midnight.
You have to help her with her hair. Then makeup. There are pictures to deal with, helping her with the dress, and so on. As a bridesmaid it is part of your responsibilities to help her on this big day.
When you get down to it, being a bridesmaid is an honor, and can be fun. But you need to know that it is also a lot of work! It can be worth it for the right friend though, because it can be a bonding experience. Decide on the amount of effort that will be required and ask yourself is this worth it to me?
Refer to various other articles penned by this same author regarding topics such as buffet serving dish and cheap chafing dish.