A Simple Guide to Organize Your Wedding Party
Beautiful Bridesmaids
A wedding is such a festive activity that when you make mention of the words, “wedding party,” the first thing in people’s minds is a fun celebration. However, the wedding party refers to the people who will help the couple with the planning and assist them during the celebration. It can be members of the family, closest friends, or relatives.
Organizing your wedding party can become a challenge if you are not used to the idea of organizing or coordinating with a group of people. You are probably asking yourself these questions: “Who should be in my wedding party?” “How many people should be involved?” “How do I communicate with each one and ensure that everything is systematized?”
To help you in this endeavor, we have laid out some practical information about wedding party as well as tips on how to get your wedding team unified and organized.
Members of the Wedding Party
- Bridesmaid/s
Duties of the bridesmaid include helping plan the wedding, giving advice to the bride, helping the bride shop for the wedding gown and bridesmaids’ dresses, running errands for the bride, throwing a bridal shower, planning a bachelorette party, and supporting the bride all throughout the event (including the before and after). Therefore, it is important to have a bridesmaid who is helpful, dependable, organized and responsible.
- Maid of Honor
The Maid of Honor, who is the “main assistant” or the “right hand person” of the bride, helps with the whole wedding
Bridesmaids With Ring Bearer
planning, organizes the bridesmaids and the rest of the wedding party, organizes the rehearsal dinner, gives toast during the reception, and does most of what the bridesmaid does.
- Groomsman/Groomsmen
The groomsmen are the closest friends or family members of the groom, who help the bridesmaids and the maid of honor with the event planning, and assist the groom in any way possible. The groom should choose groomsmen who are not only after the fun parts of the wedding but who are willing to lend a reliable helping hand.
- Best Man
The best man is the counterpart of the maid of the honor. He is usually the best friend of the groom or his close brother. Just like the maid of honor, he also assists the groom, gives him wedding advice, and help plan and organize the event as well as a bachelor’s party.
- Ushers and Usherettes
Ushers and usherettes know where everyone should be seated. They are the people to ask if you get lost and could not find your seat. They are the people you can rely on for the logistics of the event.
Handsome Young Groomsman
Size of the Wedding Party
The number of the members of the wedding party is ultimately the choice of the couple but some of these guidelines will help you make a decision.
- Follow the ratio of one usher for every fifty guests
- For formal weddings with over 200 guests, you can have 5 to 10 bridesmaids and 5 to 10 groomsmen.
- For semi-formal weddings with less than 200 guests, 1 to 5 bridesmaids and 1 to 5 groomsmen are ideal.
- For casual or intimate weddings, you can have just the maid of honor and the best man.
Tip for Organizing the Wedding Party
- Keep the wedding party small. Coordinating with too many people can give you a headache plus if there are so many members, the cost for dresses and tuxedo will be more expensive.
- Get the contact information of all the members of the wedding party. Get their cellular number, e-mail address, home phone number, address, fax number, office number, even their facebook account (some check their facebook more often than they check their phone!)
- Be patient. Do not be the bridezilla or cranky groom that your wedding party will love to hate. Remember, they are only helping you so you should not boss them around.
- Arrange regular meetings to get updates. Gather your wedding party for an afternoon of coffee and get to know the updates for the errands they have been assigned to do. Keep the meetings light and informal. Nobody wants to feel as if they are having a meeting with their boss.
- Give them a thank you gift afterwards. Make sure you show your gratification for all their hard work and contribution. Your wedding would not have been a success if not for them.
Your wedding party are the people you will largely rely on for most parts of your wedding. Make sure that you organize them the right way without going overboard or bossing them around.
