Choosing Your Wedding Party
The how-tos of picking your perfect attendants.
Maid of Honor
Whom to choose: Sisters trump friends, but otherwise go for your oldest and most loyal pal―the one who knows when to tell you what you want
to hear and when to be brutally honest.
Job description: As chief ringleader, the MOH plans the shower and the bachelorette party and is also responsible for keeping the bridesmaid
machine running smoothly by staying on top of fittings and other tasks the bride has delegated. May be asked to make a toast
at the rehearsal dinner. Gets bonus points for bringing safety pins to the bridal dressing area.
Caveat: Since organizing and motivating are key duties of the MOH, choose your lovable but scatterbrained best friend only if you’re
prepared to do a lot of the heavy lifting yourself.
Related Content
There’s nothing wrong with setting out a traditional guest book at the reception for friends and family to sign, but you’ll probably slide it onto the bookshelf and never look at it again. Here, a few innovative options:
- Place a variety of note cards and paper on a table so guests can write short letters. Seal them, then open them on your first anniversary.
- Provide a stack of construction-paper strips―like the kind used in grade school to make paper chains―and ask each guest to write a message on one link that he or she then attaches to the chain. Beginning the day after your honeymoon, remove a link and read it together to relive your big day.
- Buy a coffee table cook. If you’re looking for something a bit more personal than a standard guest book but you just don’t have the time (or the skills) to make something yourself, buy a coffee-table book that has beautiful imagery of something of significance to you or your wedding. You could find a photography book of your wedding location (the mountains of Colorado), where you plan to honeymoon (Italian countryside), or a favorite children’s book (Good Night Moon). Set it on a table with Sharpie markers for guests to customize.
