Wedding Advice | Event Planning Tips
Your bridal party is your chosen tribe that will support you on your wedding day. They are the guiding force behind ensuring the day is perfect for you in every way.
Surround yourself with the people you love, trust and respect the most.
What is the role of the Bridal Party?
A Bridal Party is made up of your most loved and trusted friends. You have recruited this tribe to make your wedding perfect and memorable. The bridal party will help plan your wedding and offer advice, help you get ready for your wedding, support you, calm your nerves, and provide the enjoyment and laughs required on your wedding day.
You may like to delegate roles to certain members of your bridal party, such as being the emergency contact for all vendors and venue managers, responsible for the rings, ensuring the bride looks perfect every step of the way and giving a speech.
Who should I invite to be in my Bridal Party?
Your tribe should be your best friends who will offer you support, be reliable, respectful and make your day fun. Consider who will be in your life for a long time to come.
Do not feel you need to ask someone to be a part of your bridal party simply because you were a part of their day.
If you have a long list of friends and family you would like to be involved in your wedding then perhaps ask a selection of friends to be involved in other roles such a ushers, welcoming guests, doing a reading, Master of Ceremonies and so on.
What size should a Bridal Party be?
Your party can be as small or as large as you like. The average size of a bridal party is 10 (5 bridesmaids and 5 groomsmen).
You do not need to have the same number of bridesmaids and groomsmen. An uneven party is perfectly fine.
Keep in mind, it can be expensive to have a large bridal party, especially if you are funding attire, accommodation and so on.
Set the Bridal Party expectations
When you invite your bridal party to be a part of your special day, you may like to set out the expectations for the day. This may include:
- Planning the hens party / bucks party / high tea.
- Helping with DIY items.
- Paying for their own attire.
- Helping to choose the bride and groom attire.
- Attending commitments that surround the wedding in the lead up to the day.
Maid of Honour & Best Man
Do you have one BFF in your life who is your absolute favourite human? Then you may like to invite this person to be your Maid of Honour or Best Man. These roles are to support the Bride and Groom and be their sounding boards through every step of the wedding planning process. Some jobs a Maid of Honour or Best Man may help with include:
- Finding and selecting wedding outfits & dresses;
- Planning the hens and bucks party;
- Keeping the bridal party on track and delegating jobs;
- Main emergency contact for vendors / venue management on the wedding day;
- Providing feedback and support with the wedding planning;
- Providing a speech;
- Running errands and collecting items;
- Ensuring the pre-event wedding make-up/hair run on schedule;
- Making sure the pre-event festivities are fun and relaxed;
- Keeping the jewellery safe;
- Ensuring the bride and groom eat, hydrate and relax before the wedding;
- Ensuring the mother of the bride and groom are comfortable;
- General support and comforter;
- Helping with DIY items and any other tasks the bride and groom require help with.
Page Boy and Flower Girl
If you have some special children in your life and you would like to include them in your wedding, you may like to ask them to be involved as a flower girl or page boy. Some tips to consider:
- Some children may not be comfortable walking down the aisle on their own, perhaps have them walk hand in hand with your bridal party.
- If there is a very young child that you would like to include, then you may like to arrange someone to carry this child down the aisle or have an older child pull them in a trolley/cart.
- Ensure there is somewhere safe/comfortable for the children to stand or sit when they make it down the aisle, they will be feeling quite shy and overwhelmed.
- In the heat of the moment, do not expect the children to follow your directions, or even remember what they are suppose to be doing – so it is alway a good idea to have another adult/bridesmaid/usher on hand to jump in and help guide the children if need be.
- Let the children know there is a reward at the end of the aisle if they get to the end – have someone responsible for handing out a little gift or stickers to each child to thank them when they get to the end. This is especially useful for very young children.
- Try to have fun with the kids and do not make them feel stressed. What will be will be.
What if my bridesmaid is pregnant?
Not a worry at all. Absolutely still invite this person to be a part of your special day, they will be honoured. It is not uncommon to see pregnant bridesmaids supporting their besties on their wedding day.
We suggest to hold off purchasing the bridesmaid dress until right before the wedding, or perhaps allow your friend to choose a dress that they feel comfortable in. Avoid dresses with corsets, prioritise comfort, allow room from movement and choose a design that can easily be tailored at the last minute (if need be).
On the flipside, it is ultimately up to the pregnant friend as to whether they are in a position to play out the role of bridesmaid. For some women it can be very uncomfortable and tiring being pregnant. In which case if your friend declines your invitation to be a part of the bridal party, perhaps ask her to be a part of the wedding in another way.
Who pays for the bridal party attire?
This is question that many brides and grooms battle with. In our personal opinion we feel it is nice gift for the bride and groom to pay for all their bridal party attire, this is a way of thanking them all for being there for you every step of the way. However in saying that it is not uncommon to request that the bridal party fund their own outfits.
Here are some additional thoughts:
- You could look into hiring outfits, this may cut down your costs.
- Let you bridal party select their dresses based on a colour – that way they can choose their own dress design to suit their body shape and hopefully get lots of wear out of it post wedding.
- Bride and groom fund attire and bridal party fund shoes & accessories.
- If you have a very distinct look in mind, we suggest the bride and groom fund the attire.
To pay or not to pay, ultimately this is a matter to be decided based on your personal opinion and circumstance.
Other roles friends can help with at your wedding
You may have a large posey of special friends. Not everyone will be able to join your wedding party, so have a think about some other roles you would like them to help with. Some additional roles may include:
- A reading at the ceremony;
- Welcoming guests;
- Ushers;
- Hosting the ceremony;
- Doing a mob dance;
- Performance / Entertainment;
- Master of Ceremonies;
- Event facilitator.
Good luck choosing your bridal party. We know it can sometimes be quite a decision making process, so try not to let it impact your enjoyment. Select according to your heart and who you feel comfortable with. The goal is to surround yourself with the people you love, respect and adore the most on your wedding day.