The Chief Bridesmaid
So you’ve been asked to be Chief Bridesmaid or Maid of Honour at your friend’s wedding; great! But what exactly does being a Chief Bridesmaid involve?
I must admit at my own wedding I was pretty clueless as to what my Chief Bridesmaid was meant to do. It might have helped had I actually had any bridesmaids but we’d decided to ditch that idea early on as we had far too many nieces between us and a budget to work to, so I asked my best friend to be my Maid of Honour as it sounded more grown-up than a bridesmaid.
As for what her duties were, well I left that to her to research! I think she did a pretty good job looking back, including crawling under the wedding table to unstick my shoes – it’s a long story!
However there are traditional duties that a Chief Bridesmaid performs so it’s worth knowing what these are and checking with the bride to see exactly what she expects of you. If you’re lucky all she’ll want you to do is provide a bit of moral support, however you will probably be required to sign the register as a witness to the wedding.
This list of wedding day roles will fill you in on other traditional duties of the Chief Bridesmaid, but the most important one is just to be there for the bride.
Get involved with the wedding planning from day one so that you know exactly what she wants and can step in and help out when it all gets a bit much. The wedding day is likely to be a very emotional one for your friend, so try to get clued up as to what happens and when so that you and the Best Man can work as a team to co-ordinate the day and ensure it runs smoothly.
Contrary to what anyone tells you, your job is not to have a romantic liaison with the Best Man, especially if he still reeks of booze from the night before, however working with him is essential so that you can both make sure that the bride and groom have an unforgettable send off!