Know how to be an awesome bridesmaid and save money
Congratulations, you’re a part of your best friend’s wedding party! As the maid of honor or bridesmaid, your duties are more than just having a nice dress and sparkly shoes. There are some financial responsibilities too. In addition to helping the bride choose her dress, making your speech (maid of honor) and walking down the aisle, You have the financial responsibility of buying your dress, shoes and paying for wedding activities. The Maid of Honor is responsible for most of the activities – either as the host or the co-host. What do you do when the costs are well over your budget? Here are a few suggestions.
• If you are the maid of honor, ask the bridesmaids to contribute to the events. It doesn’t all have to be on the maid of honor. Receiving a helping hand from the rest of the wedding party is a great way get everyone involved without one person feeling stressed and singled out. Keep in mind that you have a life outside your besties wedding. Start a group chat and ask volunteers. Communication is key!
• Choose to have a simple bachelorette party and go all out for the bridal shower or vice versa. Having something small, possibly at someone’s home is a great way to save. For home parties consider having all the bridesmaids contribute by bringing the bride’s favorite dishes. Focus on making everything memorable rather than on the cost of it all.
• Dress hunting can be the most fun and most frustrating job. Finding something that complements everyone’s body and budget can be daunting. The best suggestion is to encourage your bride or maid of honor to set a budget and have a style and dress color in mind that can accommodate everyone. Knowing this prior to dress shopping helps a lot. Avoid going to dress shops that are obviously outside of your budget. The key to dress shopping is doing it early. Then you will have time to make alterations, set up a payment plan and make changes if necessary.
• Another dress hunting tip is to consider is the fact that you might want to wear your dress again. Why not make the money you are spending an even better investment by choosing something that everyone will love and get real use out of? One time wears are cool, but when you’re on a budget it’s simply a waste.
Remember, it’s a time to celebrate. Try not to bother the bride with pettiness that can be worked out directly with the other bridal party members. When in doubt or feeling stressed out, remember it’s all for the person you call “friend” and more than likely she would do the same for you. If that doesn’t work, take a break and focus on something else until you feel up to working on your MOH duties again.