If your best friend, sister, or cousin has just announced that she is getting married, you may be curious if she will ask you to be a bridesmaid. If you get the privilege of being the Maid of Honour (MOH) in a wedding then you are going to need to know everything that is going to be required of you during the wedding planning, all the pre-wedding events, and the day of the wedding itself.
Things to Help with Prior to the Wedding
If you were under the impression that the only thing a Maid of Honour needs to do is to show up on the wedding day, you might be in for a bit of a shock. A Maid of Honour has a number of different duties to fulfill prior to the wedding. Here are some of them:
Key support – Out of all of the people that will help the bride with the planning of the wedding, the Maid of Honour is the main source of support. She helps with her emotional well-being, her stress levels, as well as helping with a broad range of wedding plans.
Head bridesmaid – It is the Maid of Honour’s job to keep the rest of the bridesmaids aware of everything that is going on, which includes ensuring they arrive to get fitted for their dress, purchase their dress, get their accessories, and help with the planning or simply attend the bridal shower and the hen party.
Wedding Registry – The MOH tells as many people as she can where the bride and groom have registered. She also finds alternative ways to get that information out, such as email.
Gifts – The MOH keeps a record of who gave what gift to the bride or couple at the bridal shower. This affords the bride with a list of people she can send thank you notes to after the honeymoon.
Pre-wedding Events – The Maid of Honour must attend all pre-wedding events, which include the wedding rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner, bridal, and hen parties.
Things to Help with the Day of the Wedding
On the day of the wedding, the Maid of Honour has a number of responsibilities. She has to make sure she is ready for the wedding, which includes her hair, make-up, and dress before she sets about her other duties.
Wedding day prep – The MOH needs to help the bride get into her dress after her hair and make-up is done.
Monitor bridal party – The MOH needs to ensure everyone is on time, dressed, and knows each one of the responsibilities. A Maid of Honour can be considered a stand in, or secondary wedding planner because of everything she does to keep things on track.
Be a witness & Toast & Dance – The MOH and best man will be witnesses to the signing of the wedding license. At the wedding reception the MOH should say a few words about the bride and groom. The Maid of Honour should dance the first dance with the best man and continue to stay happy, bubbly, and active the rest of the reception.
Monitor the bride & the bridesmaids – The Maid of Honour needs to ensure the bride gets some form of food and beverage to prevent dehydration and other issues. She needs to have an emergency kit handy for touch ups on make-up, or in the event, something else needs attention. If the bride has a bulky dress, the MOH should assist the bride in using the restroom. This is important to prevent the bridesmaids from drinking too much and causing a scene. This is also important to ensure they handle everything they required of them, such as the guestbook are keeping an eye on the gifts to secure any that may be stolen.
Help the Bride change – Before the bride and groom leave the reception the MOH may need to help the bride change out of her wedding dress into less formal attire so she can head off on her honeymoon without concerns over traveling in the dress.
Other duties may crop up before and during the wedding and reception where the Maid of Honour may need to lend a hand. It is best for a Maid of Honour to be prepared to help with anything and everything throughout the course of wedding planning and the actual day.