A matron of honor is someone who keeps our beautiful bride at peace, thereby preventing her from turning into a bridezilla! She helps the bride in planning and organizing everything required for the big nuptial day. The matron of honor is a person in whom the bride has complete faith. She knows that she can rely on her for different details of the wedding.
A Wise Tip!
Just like your maid of honor takes the load off your head, you can divide the tasks among a few trustworthy hands to take the load off her. Having more than one honor attendants isn’t uncommon in modern weddings.
Planning a wedding can be extremely stressful, because it’s the one day that you have been waiting for all your life, and you want it to be perfect! However, you do not need to go through the load of wedding planning alone. Having an ally or confidant by your side, will help you go through these nerve-racking times. As the bride, you need to just look pretty and enjoy your wedding day. Delegating your responsibilities to the matron of honor, who can be a close friend or family member, is the apt thing to do. It is she who will take care of handling the bridesmaids, telling them what to do, getting other wedding preparations underway, looking after the guests, etc. These are just a part of the matron of honor’s duties. She is truly a person of honor, because she takes away the burden from the bride’s shoulders.
Duties of the Matron of Honor
The matron of honor, or the maid of honor, is somebody who will not only help you with preparations for the wedding, but who will stand by you for every little or major need on the wedding day. She will ensure that everything takes place as planned and discussed, and also that the bride takes no stress and just relaxes on her wedding day! Let’s have a look at the different matron of honor responsibilities before, on, and after the wedding ceremony.
Pre-Wedding Duties
✿ She helps the bride and groom with decisions regarding the wedding theme, wedding location, reception site, and even looks into the stay arrangements for out-of-town guests.
✿ She helps the bride find an appropriate wedding decorator, a wedding cake baker, and also assists in selecting the best designs for the same.
✿ She helps the bride pick designs for the wedding invitations and even gets them printed. Moreover, she helps the bride organize her guest list and address the invitations to all the guests.
✿ She also helps the bride prepare the bride’s wedding day emergency kit and makes sure every essential item is placed in the kit.
✿ She helps the bride with the wedding gown selection and alteration. If the bride is getting a ready-made gown, then she helps the bride shop for it, else she goes with her to buy the gown material and also accompanies her to the designer. She also helps the bride with the purchase of other bridal accessories including shoes, tiara, jewelry, etc.
✿ The matron of honor also helps the bride pick the bridesmaids’ and flower girls’ dresses. Moreover, she coordinates with the bridesmaids and informs them about the days for fittings, trials, etc.
✿ She also plans the bridal shower and the bachelorette party, with the help of the bridesmaids.
✿ She organizes the wedding rehearsal and dinner rehearsal, and ensures everybody involved, attends it. She also handles all queries regarding the same.
✿ She helps the bride with the wedding favor arrangements and gives her valuable advice in this matter. She also helps pick gifts for the bridesmaids.
✿ She also takes appointments at a parlor for the bridesmaids, and ensures all of them get ready in time.
During the Wedding
✿ The matron of honor makes sure that the bride reaches the parlor, gets ready, and reaches the church on time. She also ensures the bridesmaids are ready on time and are well aware of their respective duties.
✿ The matron of honor should also shepherd the bridal party into the church for the bridal march, at the appropriate time. She is to oversee the flower girls, page boys, and bridesmaids. She should ensure the flower girls have their baskets, the page boy has the ring cushion, and so on.
✿ During the wedding ceremony, she holds the wedding bouquet of the bride when she takes her vows.
✿ The matron of honor can also be witness while signing the marriage certificate in the church. However, this is optional. You can ask anybody to be the witness.
✿ After the wedding ceremony is over, the matron of honor gathers the bridal troop for photographs.
✿ She also sees to the car arrangements for the bridal couple to drive in and reach the wedding reception site (of course, this is only if the wedding and reception site are different).
During the Reception
✿ At the reception site, she oversees the different wedding arrangements and ensures everything is in order.
✿ If the bride plans to change her attire before the wedding reception, then the matron of honor assists the bride in this task as well. The matron of honor also gives the matron of honor speech.
✿ During the wedding dance, the matron of honor dances with the best man.
✿ She, along with the bridesmaids, invites guests to sign the guest book.
✿ The matron of honor also keeps an eye on the bride throughout the reception and ensures she gets a drink or a bite or two during the reception. She also helps her with some makeup touch ups.
✿ The matron of honor also keeps track of the gifts received at the wedding reception and stores them properly, if nobody else is assigned for the task.
After the Wedding
✿ She ensures all the gifts are carefully assembled and transported to the required location.
✿ She helps the bride change into her going-away outfit and stores the bridal gown and other accessories neatly and safely. She also makes sure the belongings are sent safely to the bride’s house.
✿ She also reminds the bride to give the bridesmaids, flower girls, and page boy their gifts.
✿ The bride will be on cloud nine, so it’s the matron of honor’s duty to thank the bridesmaids and other members of the bridal party for their appreciated efforts.
There are no hard and fast rules pertaining to the matron of honor duties. The above list may seem intimidating to some, however, these were some general guidelines with respect to the role of a matron of honor. The bride may delegate some responsibilities to other people, considering all this is too much for a single person to handle. The matron of honor responsibilities will vary from one bride to another. Just remember to choose somebody reliable, responsible, and trustworthy as your maid of honor. All the best!
