Bridesmaid Duties: How to Win ‘The Best Bridesmaid of The Century’ Award

Congrats! You're a bridesmaid. But what does that entail? What exactly are your bridesmaid duties? Check out Afarose’s list to learn any bridesmaid duties you may have overlooked.

Bridesmaids are often the bride’s closest friends and/or relatives like cousins. As part of the bride’s entourage, they play an integral role throughout the wedding planning and wedding day. Just like how the Maid of Honor’s role is to be the bride’s right hand, bridesmaids similarly are expected to assist the MOH with any wedding planning responsibilities and offer additional help to both the MOH and the bride as needed.

In this article, you will find out what all the bridesmaid role entails and discover the best ways to be an all-around exceptional one.

Shop Bridesmaid Dresses

Shopping for bridesmaids’ dresses is an absolute key pre-wedding activity. If the bride does not want matching bridesmaid dresses, then bridesmaids can send their measurements for tailored dresses to the bride. If they are allowed to personally purchase their dress, bridesmaids can send their choice of dress or even a few options to the bride to ensure that the design, style, color, and other attributes fit the bride's desired theme.

Check out our post about options for choosing a green bridesmaid dress, Green Is The New Black: A Green Bridesmaid Dress Is Sure To Turn Some Heads.

Be kind and considerate with all members of the bridal party. You may not like or understand a particular person, but remember that each member is important to the bride. Don’t let your personal feelings ruin a good time. Choose your words wisely and get some space if needed. It’s likely that whatever is bothering you about another member is a personality difference and not a major issue.

Don’t forget to take care of yourself. Stay hydrated and eat regularly. There’s no need to go on a diet—just remember to eat enough to keep your blood sugar balanced and your fluids steady. You can’t be much help or fun if you’re not well.

Help Organize the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party

Although the bridal shower and bachelorette party are mainly the Maid of Honor’s (MOH) responsibility, be open and available to help. The MOH is not supposed to do everything. Help her by offering to run errands or set up items for the party.

If you’re short on money, don't fret. You can complete your bridesmaid duties by sharing your time, effort, and ideas. Think creatively about how you can add value or make things easier on the bridal party. Perhaps you can’t pitch in on the limo. However, you could make sure everyone has water or mints on the next shopping trip.

It’s important to remember that all the bridesmaids have additional outside responsibilities. If you’re a particularly busy person, be as present as possible to fulfill your bridesmaid duties. Be kind and transparent with what you can’t manage and complete with pleasure the responsibilities that you can. The last thing you want is for the bride to think you’re flighty or uninterested simply because you’re working many hours or have your own family to juggle.

Afarose Insider Tip: Create a planning checklist. Helping the bridal party keep times, dates, and inventory at a glance can be helpful and greatly appreciated without you having to spend any money.

Attend Pre-Wedding Engagements

Do your best to attend all the pre-wedding activities. If for some reason you can’t make it, let the bride or other bridesmaids know as early as possible. This helps mitigate extra stress. Even if you can’t attend the entire event, try to be involved. Give any requested feedback beforehand, send well wishes to those involved, or record a video chat for a specific portion of the event.

Most importantly, you must get fitted for your dress. Much can change in the months leading up to the wedding and you want to be sure your dress is flattering.

Be There For The Bride

Wedding planning can become quite stressful along the way. Bridesmaids, who are generally close friends and/or relatives, are expected to provide emotional support to the bride-to-be. Bridesmaids can check in with the bride throughout the process, offer help in any area that might be needed, and take the bride out for some relaxation.

Relaxation doesn't have to be anything grand or out of the ordinary; a simple get-together among friends should be sufficient to help relieve the bride of any pre-wedding stress.

On the actual wedding day, bridesmaids can do small, helpful things to ensure the bride is comfortable, happy, and has everything she needs throughout the wedding. These can be simple but thoughtful things like checking if the bride is hydrated, keeping her calm and collected, checking if her makeup and hair are still okay, helping her to the restroom, helping her out with any logistical matters, or acting as a point of contact for the guests.

Be proactive. Consider putting together a just-in-case care package for the morning of the ceremony. This package might include safety pins, extra hairpins, emergency feminine products, headache medicine, and other related items. It might require some planning beforehand, but the girls will thank you later.

Afarose Insider Tip: Clarify with the bride what else she expects your responsibilities to include to avoid any confusion and/or overlap with the Maid of Honor, other bridesmaids, and even the wedding planner.

Assist the Maid of Honor

The MOH will definitely have many responsibilities on their plate. Bridesmaids can serve as the MOH's right-hand ladies to help out with anything that will need extra attention. The Maid of Honor can do a great deal, but she can’t do everything. Consider adding the following to your bridesmaid duties:

Make any last-minute runs

Let’s be honest. No matter how much we plan, we might still forget something. Some things are time-sensitive and have to be acquired at the last minute. Don’t sit around and let the maid of honor do everything: she can’t lessen the bride’s stress if she’s constantly stressed out. Lend a helping hand by picking up lunch for the ladies and grabbing those extra DIY supplies. Whatever the task, if it’s last minute and you have the bandwidth, be sure to step in.

Organize pre-wedding parties

Organizing pre-wedding activities can be complex and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. This part of your bridesmaid duties requires you to work smarter, not harder. Mobilize the ladies to work together. Designate someone to call and follow up with venues. Use your network to find the best vendors and compare prices. Communicate your progress and help other bridesmaids where you can. Once all the administrative tasks are out of the way, you can stop stressing and start partying!

Create guest souvenirs

Making guest souvenirs may sound like a great idea until you realize you might have to juggle multiple schedules. Don’t let this activity overwhelm your crew. Instead, treat it like the fun thing it is. Set aside time to work on the guest souvenirs together and chat about your day or what you’re looking forward to with the wedding. You may not know everyone in the bridal party: use the creation of the guest souvenirs as an informal time to get to know everyone.

Encourage everyone to bring snacks if you decide not to go out to eat. You can even make it a movie night where a movie everyone likes casually plays in the background (so you’re not really missing anything). Either way, you’re bonding while performing your bridesmaid duties.

Coordinate with the wedding planner and any other wedding providers

It’s likely that you won’t want to make another phone call. However, you can’t just go to the party if the party hasn’t been planned. Know the responsibilities of each wedding provider.

Check in with them as needed for the bride or maid of honor. Has the MOH become frazzled while dealing with the wedding planner? Deescalate the stress by speaking to the wedding planner while the MOH takes a short break.

Be Present and Responsible

Being a bridesmaid is about more than just looking cute, taking pictures, and having a great time. Remember to be present and be responsible for yourself. You may need to arrange your own transportation and accommodations (and your plus-ones, if any) if they’re not already taken care of by the bride and groom. The newlyweds may request that you arrive early and get ready with the bride on the wedding day or be photo-ready with the rest of the entourage.

If you’ve had a late night out together, be responsible by ensuring that you’re coherent and ready for the day ahead. Enjoy the festivities, but don’t overindulge.

Trust Afarose With All Your Bridal Party & Wedding Dress Needs

Remember, the bridesmaid duties don’t end with the ceremony. Be sure to return any rented items promptly after the occasion.

Being a bridesmaid may seem like a big responsibility, but don’t let it overwhelm you. If you keep these bridesmaid duties in mind and take everything one step at a time, you’ll be sure to win the bridesmaid of the century award.

How do you get women with different figures to all look great simultaneously? You put each of them in a great dress!

Afarose provides a wide selection of bridal and bridesmaid gowns. At Afarose, there’s a dress to suit every bridal party member and theme.

Take bridal party collaboration to another level! Visit Afarose’s newest interactive virtual showroom feature for gown inspiration and style ideas. Bridal party members can collaborate with other bridesmaids and the bride can add comments for the bridal party about dress options and get feedback all in one convenient platform in real-time.