How to be a Good Bridesmaid
This was a great question asked to me by a friend who will be a bridesmaid this summer. As for me, I have never been a bridesmaid (always behind the camera đ but I have had the joy of seeing a lot of great friends & caring hearts during the weddings I have accompanied.
This said, here are some pointers for making your dear friends day run even smoother. None of us are perfect, but these tips might help you to serve your wedding couple even better.
Show up
This one seems basic, but it has happened several times that the bride was about to get in her dress and the bridesmaid have not shown up. Gladly by now, I have gotten pretty good at soothing the bride, sipping the dress (or have my assistant helping the bride in her dress) and taking pictures at the same time. Still, you will save your friend so much stress, nerves and even tears by simply being there for her on time.
At one wedding the bridesmaid was late because she went dress shopping at the wedding morning!! (Gasp, recollect and smile) Â I hate to break this to you, but this day is not about you, but about your friend. Most weddings are not a spur of the moment thing and you have the date in your calendar well in advance. Do yourself a favour, buy your own dress early and be on time for your friends big day. Thanks girl!
Be collected, keep calm
You are of great help in panicy moment when you don´t chime in the panic mode. It does not help to point out all the things going wrong. Instead check your words for two things, Is it helpful? Is it kind? It is that easy. If your words are not in these two categories, you might want to sip it till you have calmed down a bit. Thank you so much.
 
Gather people
This one is for the family pictures. It is of great help when you gather the people for the photographer. Most times the photographer does not know the names with the faces and finding the one aunt in a crowd of 120 guests can be rather trying. This is great for saving time, making the family portraits run smoothly and for saving your couple from running themselves.
Keep check on the time
Depending on how the day runs, it helps the bridal couple a lot energy if they do not have to keep the timeline in their had but can trust you with kind reminders on the agenda.
 
Keep an overview of the bridal items
This involves mostly accesioures and the flowers which the bride might have placed on a table for congratulations and then forgot. It helps if you keep her things together especially when moving to a new location. (from church to party or from photo location  to ballroom) This involves any item belonging to the bridal wardrobe, flowers, coat, umbrella ect.
Keep the couple hydrated
This is a big one for the warm summer weddings. Many days the bride and groom are so busy that they forget to take a moment and drink something besides a sip of champagne. It is very good of you to keep water close by and help your bride stay hydrated.
Communicate with the service teamÂ
A wedding day involves many service teams. If the bride and groom would have to communicate with each and every single one themselves it would cut into a lot of their day. You can be of great help by communicating on the couples behalf. Simple things like the dining hall is not heated enough, the couple will arrive with a short delay to the castle, or  the water needs refilling on the guests tables saves the couple precious time to share with their family & friends.
Often these tasks fall to the best man, but if he is not up to it, why don´t you save your bride from chasing down the manager and do this for her.
Make sure that the bride has her personal things for the night
This includes medicine, sleepwear and next days outfit. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard of a nightly Rush Hour stunt, because the bride (or groom) forgot her medical stuff at the party location and the bridesmaid has gotten on a cab at 4 am in the morning. Or one particular favourite incident of mine, where I myself had to get the second outfit to the couple (hey friends of mine ;))
because going to the breakfast buffet at the hotel in the wedding dress was not an option. By now we have laughed a lot about this one. đ
Dear future bridesmaid, I hope this helped & I am so very much looking forward to seeing you at my next wedding.
If you are not convinced yet, you can find incredible facts about 4 am in the morning mysteries right here.
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Have a great weekend ya’ll!!
