The Bridal Party - Roles & Duties
There are no hard fast rules about helpers and attendants at your wedding - whether you have bridesmaids and ushers is purely a matter of personal choice. Here's a few ideas on how to make the most of your helpers and attendants...
Chief Bridesmaid
The bride may want to have a chief bridesmaid (she's called this if she is single, and matron of honour if she's married). The chief bridesmaid is the bride's right-hand woman on the day, so she should be well-organised and practical. If there isn't a chief bridesmaid, parcel out her duties amongst your adult bridesmaids.
Duties include:
- To organise the hen party
- To help the bride get ready before the wedding
- To make sure that the bride's honeymoon luggage is sent to the reception venue or on to the hotel.
- To wait for the bride to arrive outside the ceremony venue and keep an eye on any young attendants.
- To arrange the bride's veil and and train before she walks down the aisle.
- To take the bride's bouquet at the top of the aisle and look after it during the ceremony. She returns the bouquet to the bride for her walk back down the aisle.
- To look after the bride's dress once she's changed into her going-away outfit.
The Best Man
It's usual to have a best man, some people even have two. The best man is the groom's chief helper and has a fairly long list of duties and a speech to make. He also need to be organised and calm.
Duties include:
- To arrange the stag party.
- To help organise outfits for himself, the groom and the ushers and to make sure they're collected.
- To help the groom get ready and get him to the ceremony.
- To co-ordinate and direct ushers.
- To check that the buttonholes arrive and that the orders of service are ready to be handed out.
- To look after the rings and hand them to the minister or groom during the ceremony.
- To make sure that any fees payable on the day are settled.
- To announce the speeches and the cake-cutting.
- To read out cards or messages at the reception and make the final speech.
- To announce the bride and groom's departure from the reception.
Ushers
Ushers help everything run smoothly on the wedding day.
Duties include:
- To hand out orders of service as guests arrive and to show them to their seats.
- To escort the bride's mother and groom's parents to their seats.
- To seat any latecomers.
- To get guests together for formal photographs.
The Bride's Mother
Traditionally the bride's mother organises the reception. Her duties include compiling the guest list, sending out invitations, organising the flowers, ordering or making the cake, booking the photographer and arranging accommodation for the guests. Nowadays, the bride or bridal couple assume many of these duties themselves. On the big day, the bride's mother usually helps dress the bride, supervises young bridesmaids, is present at the signing of the register and may participate in the processional and recessional.
Flower Girls and Pageboys
There's no doubt that young bridesmaids, flower girls and pageboys add great charm to a wedding, but it can be a long and tiring day for them. If you are certain that you want young attendants present on your wedding day, try to time your ceremony accordingly and avoid nap times.
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