Duties of the Bridal Party

Being part of a bridal party is a great honour, but what is expected of you?

When it comes to a traditional wedding, you would expect to see the full bridal party involved from the cute little flower girl to the ushers and to the best man. Yet many weddings have moved well away from the traditional roles so if you are involved in a bridal party, you will often ask the question - what are my duties?

Well obviously the bride and groom in question will be able to help you when it comes to working out what it is exactly that you need to do to make the wedding a complete success. Although there are a number of roles and duties that are just assumed to fall to certain members of a bridal party, so which are yours and what should you be doing to help?

Maid of Honour

This role is reserved for the bride's closest female companion, and as a result it holds a great deal of responsibility for the entirety of the wedding process from preparation to the event to the wrap up. Being a Maid of Honour will mean that you will have to be the main point of information for any guests in terms of the bride while also supporting the bride. Common duties of the Maid of Honour include hosts the hen's night or bridal shower, signs the Marriage Certificate, helps with dressing the bride and the veil, helps the bridesmaids, sits with the bride and groom at reception, performs a speech and organises reception activities (such as tossing the bouquet) and helps close up the reception and the leaving of the newly-married couple.

Best Man

This role is reserved for the best male companion of the groom as they will be responsible for the groom and organising some details of the wedding ahead of the big day. When it comes to the duties of the best man, it is the carrier of the wedding rings that is his most important duty on the day, along with organising the bucks night, delegating jobs to the grooms men, assisting the groom in getting ready for the day, returns all formal wear to the retailer after the wedding, performs a speech at the reception and also ensures that all reception activities run smoothly.

Bridesmaids

Often delegated specific tasks on the day by the maid of honour regarding the bride's appearance and maintenance on the actual wedding day, leading up to the wedding bridesmaids will take part with the hen's night, organise the bridal shower and assist the bride with any wedding planning decisions. Other typical bridesmaid duties include organising or assisting with hair and make-up, making of table decorations, attends pre-wedding parties, dance with the groomsmen and take part of bridal photos.

Grooms Men

Are the entourage for the groom, as it were, and will match in even number to the number of bridesmaids. They will be delegated roles by the Best Man leading up to and on the day of the wedding but common duties include picking out tuxedos, planning the bucks night, seat guests at the ceremony, accompany the bridesmaids and assist with the running of the reception.

Flower Girl/Page Boy

They only have to walk ahead of the bridal party on the wedding down in their specific outfits, they are more representations of the fertility of the marriage and the blessing of children to a marriage.

Usher

They will seat guests as they arrive in the appropriate areas while also preparing the venue and guests for the bridal party's arrival.