A bridesmaid is a ceremonial attendant who assists the bride on her wedding day. The term is derived from an Old English word for “woman”. In some cultures, and most definitely Western, it is traditional for there to be more than one attendant (specifically more than one female). In such cases these attendants are known as maids-of-honour or chief bridesmaid. Of course, this infers that a bride’s attendant will always be female – that’s obviously very much not the case. How to choose your bridesmaids is really important – you do not want to cause family arguments or friendship issues.
The duties of a bridesmaid vary, but it may include carrying the train of the bride’s gown, helping to dress her, and being a guest at the ceremony. Interestingly, in some cultures, such as in many Muslim countries, unmarried girls are not allowed to attend weddings because it is assumed they would have nothing to contribute to the proceedings. They obviously haven’t met a bride-zilla’s bridesmaid!
Another requirement of the bridesmaids is to plan the hen party! If you know that one friend in particular will pick a booze filled Blackpool bonanza, and that’s not your thing – make another friend the chief bridesmaid! On the other hand, if that fills you with glee, then pick her!
Choosing your bridesmaids can be a difficult decision. Different people have different ideas about what they think is the best way to choose the bridal party. There are also some people that believe that tradition should always be followed when it comes to select who will stand beside you at your wedding. For instance, some older relatives may think it should be your sister. But, if you have grown up with the same group of friends, then you may want to pick them over your siblings.
The process of choosing a bridesmaid is not as simple as it seems. You don’t want to be seen as selecting two or three people out of a group of 10 best friends! But equally, you need to be honest and also plan within your budget. If you are trying to do the wedding as low cost as possible, its absolutely fine to ask your bridesmaids to pay for their own dress. They can choose dresses they can wear again. If you are asking your attendants to pay for anything, then you shouldn’t be too demanding – if the styles are different then so be it. In fact, sometimes its beast to pick different styles anyway. You don’t want to be picking a salmon pink monstrosity for a red haired friend, for example.