Bridal Party Do's and Don'ts

The bridal party at the wedding is the in-crowd. They’re color coordinated in beautiful dresses and dapper suits. They’re telling inside jokes “about that time when...” They always appear closer to the bride and groom in all the pictures.

These wedding day perks are the product of months of planning, work, and responsibility. If you’ve been asked to be a groomsman or bridesmaid, here are our top bridal party do’s and don’ts (Photo Courtesy Wedding Chicks):

Don’t accept the role without thinking it over. Generally, the bride or groom will pop the question several months in advance of the wedding. It might be tempting to automatically say yes but think it over first. Are you accepting a new job in the near future? Are you moving or relocating any time soon? Are you able to make someone else’s wedding one of your top priorities for the next several months? Evaluating these factors (among others) before saying yes tackles potential problems down the road (Left: Mod Wedding, Right: 100 Layer Cake).

  
Do be prepared to spend lots of money. Time isn’t the only thing you’ll be spending once you’ve committed to being a groomsman or bridesmaid. Be prepared to spend money. Lots of money. Between the bridal shower, the bachelor or bachelorette party, wedding apparel, gifts, and other miscellaneous expenses, being a part of the bridal party can get expensive really fast (Photo Courtesy Charleston Crafted). 

Don’t complain or disagree with executive decisions. Heck, don’t even go against the flow of the other groomsman or bridesmaids. If you’re not feeling the coral pink dresses for a winter wedding (picture below via One Fab Day), start feeling it. If the bride and groom have set general parameters on the bachelor party, hold off on the exotic dancers. Don’t be that guy.

Do get along with other members of the bridal party. You’re all members of Team Bride or Team Groom. Even if someone else is breaking the rules and being disagreeable, be a team player and proactively smooth over any bumps within the clan. Whether it’s being the bigger person in a given situation or even pulling aside a groomsman or bridesmaid to tell them to cut it out, try and do it discretely so it doesn’t get to the bride or groom (Photo from Pinterest). 

  

Don’t make it about you. This isn’t your party, you can’t do what you want.

Being part of the in-crowd is a nice perk but making the wedding and the events leading up to the biggest day of your friend’s life as memorable as it can be is the real reward.