Choosing your bridal party!

Hello friends, bloggers and fellow Brides-to-be,

Agonising over which friends and/or relatives will be your bridesmaids and/or maid/matron of honor? Choosing the bridal party can be difficult for even the most blunt and straight forward bride-to be. Consider the below factors before making your choices:

•  How Many?

Are you a bride with a few close friends, or are you a social butterfly? Do you have a large family unit of female cousins and sisters? Will your wedding be a grand affair, or a small and intimate event? All these points need to be considered when choosing how many people you will have in your bridal party.

Bear in mind, the more bridesmaids you choose, the more complications could arise, too many opinions can spoil the fun. Remember, if you are on a tight budget, YOU are the one who pays for the bouquets, the gifts and sometimes the bridal party attire, so choosing a few close friends/family members may be the better choice. However if budget is not an issue to you and you simply can’t choose between your close ones, there is no rule of thumb these days as to how many bridesmaids you can choose, although do consider the amount of groomsmen your groom will have, you don’t want a completely uneven number..

• Where do they live?

You are probably an expat bride, which means you are likely to have close female friends on both sides of the pond. What do you expect from your bridesmaids? Will simple moral support suffice, or do you expect hands on assistance with D.I.Y projects, décor, etc ? If it’s the latter, think twice about asking friends who live far away, firstly they won’t be on hand to help you 24/7, secondly, they may not be able to afford the expense of travelling to be at your wedding.

You don’t want to find yourself getting frustrated with a friend you knew wouldn’t be able to give you all the help you wanted or even be able to make your wedding. However, if your only care is to have those closest to you on the day, then asking someone back home could be an option, they are more likely to be life time friends who know you better than anyone.

I personally asked two of my closest female friends (one to be a bridesmaid and the other, my matron of honor) from Dubai who know my fiancé and I as a couple. They have both been a beacon of support for me in Dubai and I know I can count on them to emotionally support me during this period of my life. I then asked one of my cousins in the UK to be my Maid of honor and one friend and one cousin to be my bridesmaids.

A total of 5 of my girlfriends, made up of a mix of both family and friends, were chosen by me in the end, all of them very special to me in some way. I asked my girlfriends back in the UK to consider the expense of travel to my wedding before they made their final choice.

• These days, a Bride-to-be can choose whom she pleases!

Is your best friend a man? A bridesmaid doesn’t have to be a woman. The current terminology for a male ‘bridesmaid’ these days is a brides man or attendant. You should probably discuss your preference with your fiancé first, but I say go for it!  It’s important that your wedding party consists of the people you trust and feel the most comfortable with, whether they are male or female.

•  Other Honors

If you feel as though you have had a hard time making your bridal party decision, bear in mind that there are plenty of other roles good friends can play in your wedding if they have not been chosen, such as handing out programs, performing a song or reading a poem.

• Proposing:

Lastly, asking your bridal party to be your bridal party can be fun! Why not send them all a special handmade card entitled ‘Will you be my………? Invite them all round for lunch and surprise them all with your question, or if they live on other sides of the world, you can do what I did. I sent all by chosen ladies a group email with my favorite picture of us together and reasons behind me wanting them to be my bridesmaid/maid of honor, matron of honor. They all loved the attention to detail and gladly accepted.

Hope the above helps….

Signing off for now.

Rio xx