Give Tree Gifts Blog

A supportive wedding party is a major contributor to the success of your wedding celebration.  Unfortunately, many people no longer fully understand their responsibilities as bridesmaids and groomsmen.  Their contribution to the wedding extends far beyond posing for pictures and holding the bouquet or the rings during the ceremony and certainly beyond hosting bridal showers and bachelor parties.  These are the people to whom you turn to handle those little details that may take away from the enjoyment of your special day.  

While there are plenty of resources for traditional roles of the wedding party, I'd like to share some ideas for additional duties for your bridesmaids and groomsmen.  This will then free you up to work on more important details.

One person in the wedding party should know where the other members of the wedding party are at all times.  That way, when it is time for a toast, a dance, a photo shoot, garter toss, bouquet toss, games, etc., the group can be gathered quickly.  It would be helpful for everyone in the wedding party to be aware of the scheduled time for these events, so that their absence could be avoided; but as extra insurance, ensure that you have a designated person to keep tabs on the wedding party.  There is nothing more frustrating than to announce that something is about to happen, only to have things put on hold while everyone waits for that one person. 

The most outgoing member(s) of the wedding party should logically be chosen to keep things lively.  In other words, they would be encouraging others to participate in a game, leading others onto the dance floor, etc.  This works well as a team effort, so you might want to assign both a bridesmaid and a groomsman to lead the festivities.  

With so many things going on, it can be easy for someone from the wedding party to forget to grab their coat, keys, purse, wallet, camera, etc.  Assign someone from the wedding party to "sweep the area" after the ceremony, reception, and dance, to ensure nothing has been left behind.

You can never be prepared for everything; but, if you're armed with a wedding day survival kit, you've got a much better chance at beating the odds.  Logically, the task of carrying the bride's survival kit falls on the shoulders of the maid of honor.  The survival kit will contain things like bobby pins, sewing kit, and floss...anything to get you through the day. 

If someone were to ask me to choose my favorite task of all, this would be the one.  Actually, let's not even call it a task.  Let's call it a privilege.  I personally love seeing children have fun at a wedding.  In fact, when my eldest sister wed, I was only about three years old.  While I don't recall quite that far back, I'm told that I danced every dance and had a marvelous time!  It can be difficult to curb youthful enthusiasm and, while the parents should be close at hand, you may want to assign someone to lead the children off the dance floor, when the focus needs to be on the bride and groom for the first dance.  If you have a flower girl and ring bearer, you could even enlist their help.    

Finally, while I'm not convinced that this should fall under the duties of a wedding party member, I do recognize the need for a designated driver.  Before assigning this to someone from the wedding party, do please consider that these people will likely want to let their hair down and enjoy themselves at some point.  I would first recommend making other arrangements for taxis or drivers.  On the other hand, if someone from the wedding party doesn't normally partake in spirits, you may want to ask them to be the designated driver.  Either way, a sober driver is a necessity. 

These roles can hardly be considered traditional, they are most certainly helpful.  They help things go more smoothly and ultimately free you up to enjoy your wedding celebration.  It is your day.  Celebrate!

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