How to Choose Your Bridesmaids

Choose Your Bridesmaids

If you thought choosing your wedding dress was the hardest part of your wedding plans, think again. Selecting bridesmaids is even harder, along with gifts, bridesmaids robes, and allocating tasks. If you’re fresh from saying ‘yes’ to a proposal and are thinking about who you will make your bridesmaids, here are a few tips that may help.

Don’t Rush the Process

In the excitement of the moment, it can be easy to call up all your girlfriends and break the news of your engagement by way of a bridesmaid position offer. However, you may be opening the doors for a whole world of regret. Every bride will have at least one regret about how their wedding played out, but you don’t want yours to be who you chose to stand beside you at the altar.

Therefore, put some time into thinking about who you will choose as your bridesmaids, and how many you will have. The size of your wedding party can also often depend on how many guests you intend on inviting.

Think of the Friends Who Are Up to the Task

It seems only natural that you’ll want your best friend to be your Maid of Honour, but is she really up to the task? While she might be more than happy to accept the position, it’s worth sitting down and having a discussion with her over her commitments – and with the other potential bridesmaids too. Find out if they want to be the bridesmaid, or whether they feel obliged to be.

Some of your friends will be so overwhelmed with their current commitments that taking more time out of their hectic schedule for you may not be possible. While bridesmaids gifts at the end of it are always a good incentive to take on the role, it’s not something your friends should be obliged to do.

No Need to Return the Favour

Some brides-to-be feel like because they were a bridesmaid at their friend’s wedding, they have to return the favour. That’s not the case. If you know that person isn’t a good fit within your wedding party, or you’re no longer as close as you used to be, you should feel no obligation to assign them a role in your party. It is, after all, your wedding, and therefore, it’s your call. The last thing you want is to regret your bridesmaid decisions as it’s not something you can quickly undo.

Consider Reliability

Even our closest friends are not always people on which we can rely. We’ve all got those friends who turn up half an hour late to dinners or are never on time to work, or even miss their children’s sports games. If they aren’t able to manage their daily timetable and schedules, then you shouldn’t expect them to handle the endless appointments involved with planning a wedding.

Choosing your bridesmaids can be about more than gathering your closest girls and assigning them a role. Planning a wedding takes a lot of effort, and if you can’t rely on some of your friends to help you out, then it’s in your best interests to include them as a guest rather than in an integral organisational role.