Choosing Your Bridesmaids. You've got a sparkly ring on your finger, booked the church, and chosen a dress. Now it's time for a somewhat bigger problem: who to choose for your bridesmaids. For some brides, it's an easy task, for others, it involves hairsplitting and painful decisions.
Traditionally, "bridesmaids" would include the bride's sisters and close friends.
For some lucky brides, they know for sure who their "bridesmaids" are going to be even before the guy proposed, for others, choosing the members of the wedding party is a traumatic experience. This does not really answer the bridesmaid problem though. Sometimes the problem would be an overabundance of eligible bridesmaids that is nearly impossible to narrow down; sometimes the problem is a shortage of "bridesmaids" that it's nearly impossible to find anyone.
If you have a lot of potential "bridesmaids", list them all down and pick out which ones are closest to you, which ones you have known the longest and are most likely to help you with everything from wedding jitters to potential disasters. If your list is too long, because of some people who are there because of obligation, simply remove them from the list. It is not necessary to ask someone like your estranged sister to be a bridesmaid if you are not comfortable being with her, but if you would like to make a reconciliatory gesture by asking her, go ahead.
On the other hand, do not be guilt-tripped into asking someone just because you are expected to. Your wedding party should include the people you would like to share the happiest day of your life with, not the people you think should be included just for form's sake.Before booking your friends and sisters for dress fittings, you should know for sure what you expect your bridesmaids to do, and what duties you would require of them.
Do you want them to be involved with planning every detail of the wedding or just expect them to show up for the ceremony and reception? If your bridesmaids are needed with putting the wedding together then you should choose friends and family members that are or can be available during the planning stage. You should also choose people that can work together or are comfortable with each other. Instead of helping, bickering bridesmaids would be more of a hindrance.
If the "bridesmaids" were just required to show up for the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, then the criteria would only include who you would like to have in your wedding party and who would be available for the wedding day. This might involve a lot more hairsplitting than if bridesmaids are expected to help out. If the list of potential bridesmaids is still too long, some of your friends or family members could be requested to perform other duties instead, like doing the liturgical readings or the offertory during the mass.
Having a lack of possible bridesmaids might also be a problem, and if there are no distant relatives to scrounge up you could ask acquaintances or the groom's family to fill in the gaps. Of course, the same rules still apply - you don't have to ask anyone with whom you are not comfortable including in the wedding party just because you need another "bridesmaid".
Still, some brides opt to have "bride's men" in lieu of bridesmaids, or a "lad of honor" in addition to the bridesmaids. Of course, if you choose to ask your brothers or close male friends, you should make sure that your groom and your potential "bride's men" are ok with it. It is also good to check in case you might offend some sensibilities by including men in your wedding party, but of course you have the final say in whom to include or not to include. Remember, the wedding is for you and your fiancée, so don't waste time worrying over the wedding party. In the end, everybody who cares about you would still be there for you both, not just during the wedding day but for the rest of your lives.
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Showing posts with label bridesmaid guide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bridesmaid guide. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Being A Bridesmaid
Being A Bridesmaid. Bridesmaids are the faithful, caring attendants of the bride at weddings. Usually, they're girls or young women that bear some relational association to the upcoming bride, either a close friend or relative. They attend to the bride before and after a wedding ceremony. They're usually the ones in the movies that buoy the bride, listen to her fears, cheer her on, help her with preparations, and pass on the collective excitement. The maid of honor is the most esteemed bridesmaid, and she plays a principal part. There is no fixed bridesmaid quantity because the decision has historically been left to the bride. The size of the "bridesmaid" group is sometimes associated, as a reflection, with wealth, success, or, obviously, how popular the bride is.
The term has wrought an idiom in modern times that glumly says, "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." This phrase is set aside for those delegated to a role of prime importance, yet they always fall short of the high honor or central import of an event.
The history of bridesmaids dates back to Roman times when an army of similarly clad "bridesmaids" would accompany the bride to the new husband's locale or village. In essence, these guards would protect the bride from robbers and bandits. In later times, the Romans made it a law to have 10 witnesses present at a wedding in order to ward off evil, magical spirits that were determined to destroy the marriage's fruitful conception and progress. These attendants, both "bridesmaids" and ushers, dressed in identical wear to the groom and bride, thus confusing the evil spirits that wished harm on the couple-to-be.
Bridesmaids are customarily given gifts for their efforts and the bride's appreciation of their inherent qualities. After all, they're the ones the bride has chosen to publicly accompany her on the most important day of her new life. Some good gifts are necklaces, earrings, stark white & long gloves, and the wedding day attire itself. Personalized gifts that commemorate the day's special events and the "bridesmaids" participation, especially ones that are valuable too, are particularly appealing. They mark a feeling of togetherness and shared experiences. It's much more personal than a gift certificate.
If the wedding is at a tropical travel destination, consider a bounteous gift of a day's treatment at the spa. Just make sure that someone is there to take a picture afterward. Have it framed specially and send a copy to all the bridesmaids for their children and their grandchildren. Make an impact with your gift choice that won't be forgotten. Handmade scarves, bracelets, wine glasses, chocolates, bottles of wine, bath salts, body products, scented candles, etc. are all genuinely good too.
Dresses for bridesmaids are a particularly important element, and they come in Bella Satin, Chiffron, Crystal Chiffron, Duchess Satin, Matte Satin, Nu-Georgette, Organdy, Renaissance Satin, and others. They come in royal blue, midnight, mocha, ginger, flame, sage green, forest green, frosty white, rose, ruby, sapphire, sorbet, sugar plum, tangerine, taupe, ruby, perwinkle, and bright pink, plus many more colors.
The term has wrought an idiom in modern times that glumly says, "always the bridesmaid, never the bride." This phrase is set aside for those delegated to a role of prime importance, yet they always fall short of the high honor or central import of an event.
The history of bridesmaids dates back to Roman times when an army of similarly clad "bridesmaids" would accompany the bride to the new husband's locale or village. In essence, these guards would protect the bride from robbers and bandits. In later times, the Romans made it a law to have 10 witnesses present at a wedding in order to ward off evil, magical spirits that were determined to destroy the marriage's fruitful conception and progress. These attendants, both "bridesmaids" and ushers, dressed in identical wear to the groom and bride, thus confusing the evil spirits that wished harm on the couple-to-be.
Bridesmaids are customarily given gifts for their efforts and the bride's appreciation of their inherent qualities. After all, they're the ones the bride has chosen to publicly accompany her on the most important day of her new life. Some good gifts are necklaces, earrings, stark white & long gloves, and the wedding day attire itself. Personalized gifts that commemorate the day's special events and the "bridesmaids" participation, especially ones that are valuable too, are particularly appealing. They mark a feeling of togetherness and shared experiences. It's much more personal than a gift certificate.
If the wedding is at a tropical travel destination, consider a bounteous gift of a day's treatment at the spa. Just make sure that someone is there to take a picture afterward. Have it framed specially and send a copy to all the bridesmaids for their children and their grandchildren. Make an impact with your gift choice that won't be forgotten. Handmade scarves, bracelets, wine glasses, chocolates, bottles of wine, bath salts, body products, scented candles, etc. are all genuinely good too.
Dresses for bridesmaids are a particularly important element, and they come in Bella Satin, Chiffron, Crystal Chiffron, Duchess Satin, Matte Satin, Nu-Georgette, Organdy, Renaissance Satin, and others. They come in royal blue, midnight, mocha, ginger, flame, sage green, forest green, frosty white, rose, ruby, sapphire, sorbet, sugar plum, tangerine, taupe, ruby, perwinkle, and bright pink, plus many more colors.
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