Archive for the ‘Bride Wedding Tips’ Category
For the Bride there are many decisions to make about the Wedding Party. The Bride decides about the inclusion of a Flower Girl and it is a popular choice for many Brides… but is having a Flower Girl in your Wedding Party a good decision?
Little girls all dressed up like a fairy princesses are adorable and will look great in your Wedding Photos. A little girl that encompasses innocence, sweetness and makes everyone sigh when she enters the Church or walks down the aisle. The very idea of having a Flower Girl brings warmth to your heart. The Flower Girl leads the ladies in the Wedding Party, she is first to enter and will take her place next to or in front of the Bride for the ceremony.
As a Bride it’s good to keep in mind that things can go wrong and being unprepared in your choice of Flower Girl can make a big difference to the whole Wedding Day. There are important considerations when thinking of including a Flower Girl in your Wedding Party.
- Age of the intended Flower Girl
- Temperament of your Flower Girl
- The Flower Girl’s ability to follow instruction
Age of your Flower Girl
Ideally your Flower Girl should be over 3 years of age and there are some good reasons for this. A child under 3 years is not likely to have enough mental development to see anything but their own world. They believe that the whole world revolves around them and have no concept of how they need to behave in special situations. A 2 year old child for example can be very defiant and may flatly refuse to complete any requested task, just because she can. A 2 year old child does not recognize the need for being quiet or standing in one place for any given time.
A Flower Girl over the age of three has some concept of others needs and can be reasoned with. A three year old has some capacity to understand that the Wedding Day is special and can cognitively understand and complete simple instructions. Providing that you explain clearly to your Flower Girl everything that is about to happen they should be able to stand or sit still during the ceremony and do not usually feel the need to be the center of attention constantly like younger counterparts. A Flower Girl aged 4 or 5 years old is an even better choice.
Temperament of Your Flower Girl
Even when you have considered age of your Flower Girl and believe that your decision is right there are other factors to think about. Ask your self about the Temperament of your Flower Girl. Is she normally happy child who is always laughing and joking or is she serious, demanding and moody. It’s a day filled with excitement for the Flower Girl, getting her hair done, wearing a pretty dress and it is a very long day for any adult, let alone a little girl!
This can make a big difference to your Wedding Day. If you have decided that even though your Flower Girl can be a little grumpy and obstinate; you are sure it will be fine on the day. Make sure it is by explaining to your Flower Girl what her job is on the day and what you expect from her on the Wedding Day.
Flower Girl’s ability to follow instruction
Any little girl is likely to be very excited about being a Flower Girl. The way you can ensure that your Flower Girl has an ability to follow simple instructions is to spend some time with her in the weeks leading up to the Wedding. Ask her if she knows what a Wedding is and if she doesn’t explain it to her in terms that she will understand. Walking up the aisle all alone in a fully packed Church can be very daunting for your Flower Girl. Make sure she understands that there will be lots of people looking at her.
Ask your Flower Girl to show you how she is going to walk in the Church or down the aisle. If your Flower Girls is to sprinkle rose petals as she walks make sure she has plenty of practice doing this. In the weeks leading up to the Wedding Day make these activities like a game and offer praise when she shows you or completes tasks you have asked her to do. Make sure that your Flower Girl is present for the Wedding rehearsal and that she knows how and where to walk, where to stand or sit and knows that she needs to be as quiet as a mouse while everyone else is talking. It is important for the Bride to explain these things to the Flower Girl as it will help the Flower Girl understand that this is your day.
Wedding Speeches Store hopes that “Flower Girl ~ Yes or No” has been helpful for you to decide if a Flower Girl is to be included in your Wedding Party.
When you are the Bride there is an amazing amount to think about and organize. There is great excitement and there is tons of responsibility! You want everything to be perfect or as close to perfect as it can be for your Wedding Day. That is where Bride Wedding Tips come to the rescue. In this series Wedding Speeches Store hope to offer some Bride Tips, ideas and inspiration to you to help relieve your stress levels and make your transition from the single gal to the beautiful bride more easily.
The topics covered in the series of Bride Wedding Tips will include the following:-
- Choosing your Maid of Honor
- Choosing your Bridesmaids
Coming Soon Posts about these topics:-
- Flower Girl, yes or no
- Wedding Themes
- Wedding Dress
- Wedding Party outfits
- Surviving the Bachelor Party
- Bridal Shower
- Bachelorette Party
- Wedding Flowers
- Bride Wedding Speech
Many more topics to come.
Please feel free to leave comment at the end of this page or get in contact with us through the “Contact Us” Page if you have questions or suggestions for more topics to include Bride Wedding Tips to assist you prepare for your Wedding Day.
Wedding Speeches Store thanks you for visiting and hopes you will enjoy the series of Bride Tips.
When Choosing your Bridesmaids you need to have a clear idea of the type of Wedding you are going to have. If a small event is planned then having a large Wedding Party with to many Bridesmaids would seem silly. There is not point having a bigger Wedding Party than there are guests.
Wedding Party Size
Large Wedding Parties and too many Bridesmaids can also look over done and ridiculous. This Bride has been flaunted all over the internet because she had 24 Bridesmaids. Some may be impressed by this, but I think the majority of people would think this many Bridesmaids is a blatant waste of resources and ridiculous in the extreme. Having been a Bride some years ago I feel sorry for this Bride, for me coordinating a Maid of Honor and one Bridesmaid was enough to manage, imagine 24, my brain hurts just thinking about it. I’ve also observed that many of these Bridesmaids look to be under 5 years of age. I don’t know if you have had any experience with toddlers, but trying to get a number of them to walk down the aisle, in order and at the right pace must have been a mammoth task.
Talk to the Groom
So you need to spend some time talking to your husband to be. Although you, the Bride, are the focal point on the Wedding Day, it is his day too. Work it out together and agree on the size of the Wedding Party and stick to it. Discuss with your future husband likely candidates for the roles of Best Man and Maid of Honor then you will be on the same page.
Make a List
One way of Choosing your Bridesmaids is to make some lists. Make a list of your best friends. Then make another list of your most loyal and dependable friends, be honest, this is most important? Who was there for you even when you were being unreasonable? Who stuck by you when things went wrong? Who was it that put your needs above their own?
Take a look at your two lists, do they match? If they do great… all you need to do now is ask your friends to be your Bridesmaids to be in your Wedding Party. If the lists don’t match you have some thinking to do.
Skin Deep
Another thing to consider is the Wedding photos, apposed to your enjoyment of the Wedding Day. Your “Pretty” friend may look great in the photos but is she going to support you, help you with the Wedding arrangements and make the Wedding Day memorable for you or will she be more concerned with herself? It might sound harsh, but you will depend on your Bridesmaids for a lot over the coming months and weeks leading up to the Wedding Day and Choosing your Bridesmaids wisely can make all the difference.
The Bridesmaid List
Your Wedding Party is almost complete. Once you have the Bridesmaid list you need may need help in Choosing the Maid of Honor from that list. Please go to the Previous post titles Choosing your Maid of Honor for some Bride Tips and ideas on how to choose the perfect Maid of Honor.
The next post will be titled “Flower girl, yes or no”. Please leave a comment or suggestion for further posts.
Wedding Speeches Store hopes you have enjoyed “Choosing your Bridesmaids“.
Choosing your Maid of Honor can be very easy … or very difficult. Most Bride’s pain over the decision of who to ask to be their Maid of Honor. Almost every Bride will regret an emotional decision here. Yes… it’s wonderful to have your sister or life long friend… but sometimes the heart rules the head. These Bride Tips will help you to be more practical and think about who will serve you best as Maid of Honor.
The ability and commitment of your Maid of Honor can make a huge difference not only to the Wedding Day but also for the weeks and months leading up to it. A good Maid of Honor will be there for you, make the whole Wedding Day process much less stressful and allow you to enjoy you big day.
Choosing your Maid of Honor
There are many resources available online to help you choose your maid of honor. The information below is an blend from some of these resources along with tried and tested methods that have worked well for others. See what you think!
Here are a few non-emotional, rational and logical Bride Tips to help you in Choosing your Maid of Honor:-
Make a list of Maid of Honor candidates and meet with each one.
This may sound hard or cold … but Choosing your Maid of Honor is a big decision and should not be made emotionally. This decision that can make all of the difference on the months and weeks leading up to your Wedding Day, as well as on the Big Day itself.
Make a list of four or five Maid of Honor candidates. Invite each one on a social date, drink after work or a coffee. You could invite them out as a group, but I would not advise this. It might save time … but cause conflict. There may be competition for the role of Maid of Honor, so it would be wise to keep it one on one and the reason for the meeting a little secretive for now. By now all of the candidates know you are getting Married and will be guessing as to why you have invited the out.
Tell your candidates what you expect from a Maid of Honor.
Meet with each of the candidates individually. Tell them that you are thinking about choosing the members of the Wedding Party and ask if they would have any suggestions of what would be the right mix of girls to have. Explain that you want the right mix of personalities and don’t want any conflict between Wedding Party members. All of your Maid of Honor candidates should know or at least know off each other. These are your friends, or family members and after all and they should have at least some idea of who gets along and who doesn’t.
Their answers should give you an idea of who will be the most fair, least judgmental and easy to work with. It would also be wise at this point to identify what is important to you in a Maid of Honor and listen carefully to their responses.
Shortlist to two candidates
Once you have had some time to think about it you should have a short list of two Maid of Honor candidates. By now you would have told them that they are both to be included in the Wedding Party. Now would be a perfect time to organize a social drink or coffee with each one separately to go through the mechanics or the duties of the Maid of Honor.
Maid of Honor’s Duties.
So now you are meeting with the Maid of Honor candidates, and again separately would be best. Now you can approach the subject of Maid of Honor duties by asking questions like this;
- How much spare time do you have?
- Do you think you could give me your time to help out with the Wedding and with the rehearsal dinner preparations?
Do you think you would you be good at coordinating with the other bridesmaids to keep everyone on the same page?
- Would you feel ok about contacting me every couple of days to see if there is something you can help with?
- If you were organizing the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party, what themes would you have in mind?
- Would you be happy to help me out on the Wedding Day with touching up my makeup and hair when needed?
- How would you feel if I needed you to help me go to the ladies room? (Bridal Dresses are big and hard to manage on your own, you may need help, and you will be wearing your Wedding Dress for at least 6 hours, nature will call)
- How would you feel about giving a short Wedding Speech or Wedding Toast at the Wedding Reception?
- I might need help managing the dress and veil, in and out of cars, during the photo’s and at the reception, could I count on you to help me with that?
- I expect that the Bridal Party will all dance at the Wedding Reception. Would you be prepared to go to dance classes with me to learn the Bridal Waltz?
Making the final decision
After you have got your answers from these Bride Tips the choice should now be easy. If there is any conflict or sore feeling you can make your first choice the Maid of Honor and the second Chief Bridesmaid, just to give a more auspicious and important title. Some Brides choose to have two Maid of Honor’s however only one can take the role of witness by signing the Wedding Register as the other witness will be the Best Man.
The next post will be titled “Choosing your Bridesmaids”. Please leave a comment or suggestion for further posts.
Wedding Speeches Store hopes you have enjoyed “Choosing your Maid of Honor“.