Duties of Wedding Attendants

The duties of wedding attendants can leave people perplexed.  Every helping had comes in useful at a wedding, but how do you distribute the jobs you need done appropriately.  There are some general guidelines for the duties of the Best Man, Maid or Matron of Honor and other Wedding Party members. Besides throwing a bachelor party the Best Man is carefully selected to give the groom moral support.  Prior to the wedding the Best Man should assist the groom with any shopping, such as a tux or wedding ring.  The Best man is in charge of guiding the other male attendants.  The Best Man should notify all the male attendants of rehearsal date and times, mail or email tux measurement cards to male attendants and send payment instructions, make arrangements to collect out of town tuxes before groomsmen leave town.  The Best Man is usually a very close friend or relation of the groom and should be available for the groom as much as possible.  At the wedding the Best Man will be very busy with a number of things that he will be responsible for.  The Best Man must assist the groom with taking the getaway car to the reception location as well as assist the groom in getting ready for the wedding and escort the groom to the ceremony.  The Best Man will be in charge of instructing all the male attendants of seating duties, where too stand, and when to enter the ceremony.  He will also have the very important job of holding the bride’s ring for the groom until the ring exchange.  Other courtesies the Best Man should do is escort the Maid or Matron of Honor in the ceremony and reception and dance with her at the reception.  Last but not least, the Best Man should make the first toast to the bride and groom.

While the Best Man has his hands full the Groomsmen are responsible for paying for their wedding attire and accessories, attending the rehearsal, arriving at the ceremony at the scheduled time and assisting with hosting the Bachelor Party.  These activities may seem very minute compared to the responsibilities of the Beat Man and the Best Man may choose to delegate some of his responsibilities to the Grooms Men, such as transferring the bride and groom’s luggage to the car at the end of the reception and assisting with transportation of the gifts from the reception.  However, it is ultimately the Best Man’s duty to make sure that the job gets done.

The Bride’s Maid or Matron of Honor is there to assist the bride in every way possible.  She can help the bride with comparison shopping, dressing fitting, addressing invitations, making wedding favors etc.  The Bride’s Maid/Matron of Honor is also responsible for throwing the bridal shower and guiding all the female attendants.  She should notify the female attendants of gown delivery date and fitting appointments, follow-up to make sure everyone has had their final fitting and picked up their gowns, make sure all female attendants have shoes and accessories and notify female attendants of wedding rehearsal date and time.  At the wedding the Bride’s Maid/Matron of Honor assists the bride with getting ready, accompanying the bride to the ceremony location, carrying the train of the bride’s veil and gown as she walks to the ceremony room, holding the bride’s bouquet during the ceremony, and holding the groom’s ring until the ring exchange.  At the end of the wedding the Bride’s Maid/Matron of Honor should help the bride change from her gown to the going away outfit and gather mementos of the wedding for the bride’s keepsakes at the end of the reception. 

In the mean time, traditionally Bride’s Maids pay for their wedding attire and accessories, hair, and make-up.  They also assist with the bridal shower and attend the wedding rehearsal.  Once again, the responsibilities of the bride’s maids appear to be few, however they can also be with the bride during dress fittings and on the day of the wedding as she gets ready.