Your Complete Guide to Becoming a Good Maid of Honour

Your Complete Guide to Becoming a Good Maid of Honour

Every blushing bride deserves to have a cheery and helpful maid of honour, most especially because there’s a gazillion of things to do in order to prepare a breathtaking wedding.

The bride needs help in finding an amazing dress, the most beautiful flowers, the perfect wedding decors and a long list of other things.

She also needs an emotional lifeboat just in case she feels super anxious before the big day.

When my best friend got married, she asked me to be her maid of honour, and sure enough, I accepted the challenge. I felt so honoured that she chose me out of all her girlfriends.

Since it was my first time to become a maid of honour, I spent plenty of time asking around from my experienced buddies. They explained the key steps I needed to ensure that I provide the best assistance to the gorgeous bride.

So, without further adieu, let me share with you all the things I learned and apply to become the best maid of honour

Roles and responsibilities

As my best friend’s go-to girl for her wedding, I had to take on various roles and responsibilities.

While she hired a party planner to help her with the majority of the preparations for the main event, she needed extra hands to handle the more personal stuff.

For starters, she asked my help to organise our squad reunion.

Take charge of the squad  

It’s perfectly normal for members of your a girl squad to live far apart because life tends to get in the way sometimes. Some of your closest friends may need to move to another town or city to pursue her dreams of working as the head of a company or hitting the road to for concerts and gigs.

But of course, when a member of the squad gets married, it’s quite expected for everyone to come back even just for a few days to take part in the pre-wedding celebrations and the big day.  

As the maid of honour, you will be tasked to lead the whole group. The bride already has so much on her plate, so you must step it up and organise the reunion on her behalf.

Because everyone tends to have their own schedule, it’s extremely crucial for you to check the availability of everyone on the list. This way no one gets left out.

Lucky for me, I didn’t have a hard time calling the gals. They were so thrilled when they heard about the wedding plans. They also suggested a couple of cool ideas for the bachelorette party.

Organising the last night of freedom party

Planning the juicy deets of my gal’s hen party was absolutely a fun and unforgettable experience. Because the UK is close to her heart, we celebrated her bachelorette party there.

She said she wanted something unique, crazy and memorable, so I thought of organising a hen party with a dwarf for hire. Everyone was entertained that night, thanks to the entertaining dwarf who joined us in exploring the hippest bars in London.  

If you feel a bit lost in planning for the bachelorette party, you should check out the following tips:

Know what your gal wants

Focus on identifying what sort of activities does the bride prefer to engage in. If she likes travelling, suggest hosting the party abroad.

You and the rest of your squad can explore Europe, Asia or other parts of the globe together a few weeks the bride get hitched.

If she’s an adrenaline-junkie, I suggest hosting a paintball party. You can spend the entire day planning how you can defeat the other team.

If you’re super close with the bride, it won’t be that hard to choose a party theme. Here are some interesting themes you might want to use:

  • Disney princess hen party – Relive your childhood with a Disney-themed party. If the bride is a Disney princess fan, surely she would love this.
  • Glamping party under the stars – Celebrate in a stylish serviced tent and gather around the bonfire at night to exchange stories or gossips.
  • Country Gal theme – Want to take a break from the bright lights and honking cars in the city for a couple of days? Head over to the countryside and take the hen party celebration there.
  • The Great Gatsby – Popular hen party destinations such as Las Vegas and London often get filled with hens dressed in a sequined dress and adorned with feathery headdresses. You can dress up like a character from the Great Gatsby too!  
  • The Escape Room Queen – If the bride is a huge fan of sleuthing films, I suggest hosting an Escape Room party. Thanks to the popularity of escape rooms, you can easily find a suitable gaming company right in your country.   

Determine the best day to celebrate

To find the perfect schedule for everyone, I suggest asking the availability of the invited guests. Are they free to party for a week or just over the weekend? Can they make it on your target schedule?

Consider the number of hours you need to travel in case you want to take the party abroad. Also, avoid scheduling the pre-wedding celebration a night before the main event. This way, you can avoid delays or other sorts of interruptions that would mess up the bride’s big day.

Choose a safe accommodation

Most probably, you will all be tired from exploring the city or partying all night to toast to your buddy’s upcoming wedding. The last thing you want is to sleep in an unsafe hotel, cottage or villa after the pre-wedding festivities.

This is why you must double check the details of your chosen accommodation before you key-in your credit card details.

Read the customer reviews and see what sort of feedback they get. If the customer reviews scream of nightmarish experience, you should totally ditch the hotel and look for another option.

Book everything in groups

The most important lesson I learned from organising a hen party abroad is you have to book in groups. This will help you avoid making harsh adjustments to your plans.

When we flew to London, three of the members of our bridal squad came in four hours late because their flight got cancelled. Sadly, because of that, we had to adjust our schedule for the day.

Booking your transportation together also allows you to grab discounts. You get to spend your extra savings on other party treats or perhaps matching accessories or souvenir shirts.

Act as the hostess during the events

Aside from taking the lead and planning the most unforgettable bachelorette party, you also need to play hostess every once in a while.

You may need to help the guests in finding their seats, showing them the location of the restrooms, and double checking if they signed their name on the guest list. In most cases, the bride will be too busy to deal with these tasks herself. Take it upon yourself to lend an extra hand.

Be there for her emotionally

While most woman dream of getting married someday, sometimes, wedding jitters or other issues start rolling in weeks or days before the actual ceremony.

The last few weeks before my best friend got married was an emotional rollercoaster for her because she had trouble finding a suitable gown that would fit her size.

We went through countless fittings just to find the right wedding couture shop. She was at the verge of a meltdown when I found a shop that can accommodate her needs.

As the chosen one, it’s your job to comfort her when she’s having a hard time with all the preparations she needs to go through. She needs you now more than ever. Think about how she would also do the same for you once you walk down the aisle one day.

Help the bride with her things

Most of the time, the bride needs to do a lot of things while during the ceremony and at the wedding reception. She may need your help in holding her bouquet or personal items. When she exchanges vow with her soon-to-be husband, you definitely need to hold her wedding bouquet until they finish.

Bear witness to their I Do’s

After exchanging their promises to each other, the couple needs to sign their wedding contract. Together with the best man, you, the maid of honour need to affix your signature on the document to officially bear witness to their union. This is required by the law in order for the newlyweds to become legally bound to each other.

You got this!

As the right-hand woman of the bride, you’re bound to face a myriad of challenges and tasks along the way.

You will need to help out the gals with their bridesmaids’ duties, check the fitting schedules, lend a hand in organising pre-wedding celebrations such as bridal showers or hen parties, ensuring that everyone makes it to the wedding rehearsals.

While everything might sound tiring and a wee bit challenging, there’s no denying that it’s super awesome to get picked for the job. Be the most useful maid of honour for your best friend with the tips and tricks I shared above!  

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