This article was taken from Shuttering Hearts and edited with their permission. For the original article, click here.
It’s not everyday that your best girlfriend asks you to be one of her bridesmaids. Though it may seem daunting at first, the bridesmaids responsibilities are definitely not as heavy as that of the maid of honour. However, though it is a glorious role, there are definitely some things that need to be done and checked off prior to the wedding day in order to ease the bride’s burden.
Being a good bridesmaid means that you are willing to go all out in order to ensure that the bride is able to plan her perfect wedding without having to deal with all the little details herself. So what can you do to help? Here’s a list of 8 bridesmaids responsibilities.
1. Planning the Bachelorette Party
An important duty as the bridesmaid is to plan and co-host the bachelorette party together with the maid of honour. Make sure everyone, especially the bride is having an enjoyable time. The bachelorette party is mainly for the bride to relax and de-stress from all the wedding planning. It is also the last time your best girlfriend gets to hang out and enjoy some wild fun with you before being ‘tied down’.
2. Helping out with wedding decorations
Other than fulfilling your duty as bridesmaids during the wedding day, you are still able to help out BEFORE. Besides the important wedding planning of printing and sending out wedding invitation cards, bridal dress and shoe shopping, one of the bridesmaids responsibilities may involve in helping to put up wedding decorations. Make sure everything is perfectly placed accordingly without flaw.
3. Preparing Gate-crashing Games
This is one of the best parts of being a bridesmaid! In Chinese weddings, it is customary to have a gate-crashing event when it comes time for the groom to collect the bride. So to make it a fun and memorable experience for all, it is the bridesmaids responsibilities to customize the games to fit the groom and his ‘heng dai’. Try not to go overboard and keep it fun!
4. Taking Care of The Busy Bride
In order to fit into that dream dress, many brides opt to go on a diet so that they can look their best on their special day. So part of the bridesmaids responsibilities is to make sure that they do not go overboard, and that they consume enough food and water to keep going, especially during their special day.
The wedding day is usually hectic and jam-packed with activities for the bride and groom. Therefore, it is crucial to ensure that the bride has enough stamina and fuel to keep going and be able to enjoy their special day. It is also important to help keep their stress levels and nerves low too!
5. Before the grand entrance
There will be moments when the guests arrive that the bride and groom will be unable to greet and entertain them. This is when having bridesmaids come into play. One of the bridesmaids responsibilities is to act as an usher, and guide them to their respective tables.
A key thing to remember is that the guests enjoying themselves during the wedding is crucial. Mingle and entertain if you do not have other responsibilities, or just ensure that everyone has refreshments while waiting for the feast to start.
6. Collecting Gifts/”Ang pau”
During the wedding, the bride and groom will be receiving countless amounts of gifts and “ang pau” (red packets). However, they will not have the time to be collecting them all.
That’s where the bridesmaids step in. It is the bridesmaids responsibilities to both accept the gifts, as well as record it down during the wedding receptions. That way, the newlyweds can then keep track when it comes time to send out their thank you’s. It is also your responsibility to keep these gifts in a safe place until it is time to hand it over.
7. Performing / Acting as Emcee
In some cases, you might be asked to host the wedding if you’re good in public speaking. It is always better if the emcee of the wedding day knows the newlyweds personally. This can help make the whole wedding event to be a more touching one. So, if you are good in public speaking and there’s still no emcee assigned, it might be your chance to shine.
Bridesmaids who have good vocals or experience in performing, it is the best opportunity to show your support and love to the bride and groom, as a token or gift to the lovebirds.
8. Touching up makeup
