What I wish I knew before being a bridesmaid for the first time


While most of us dream of walking down the aisle to marry the loves of our lives (aww, cute), we also have dreams of walking our best friends, sisters, or even mothers down the aisle as their bridesmaid – because let’s be honest, being chosen as a bridesmaid is the equivalent of being handed the final red rose during The Bachelor finale. It’s kind of a big deal. Although we’ve all watched Bridesmaids and know that we probably won’t watch the bride do a doo-doo in the street, or give a puppy away to each guest (we’ll be keeping them for ourselves), or have an intense friend-off with a new friend on the block, we have learned that being a bridesmaid is not always magic, flowers and champagne.

Picking a bridesmaid dress is not as easy as it looks

We’ve gotta hand it to filmmakers because they make this part look super easy – and we’ll tell you something, picking a bridesmaid dress is NOT as easy as it looks. Instead, it’s more like a really, really bad episode of Say Yes To The Dress, when the bride and her 24 bridesmaids are stuck in Kleinfeld Bridal for 12 hours of intense bridesmaid dress searching. There’s shouting, there’s yelling, there’s tears, and there are a heck load of awful dresses. At least there’s champagne.

What I wish I knew before being a bridesmaid for the first time

You will not have a major BFF moment on the big day

When you dream of being a bridesmaid, you probably envision private jokes with the bride, hilarious wedding planning days, spa days to de-stress you before the wedding, and a proper BFF bonding moment on the big day. Am I right? Well, things don’t actually work out that way. Your job as a bridesmaid is to stay as far away from the bride as possible and to sort out some of the many problems that will inevitably occur – because if they get to the bride, she might freak out and run away. You don’t want that.

Try to take as many photographs as possible

But that’s the wedding photographers job, right? Technically, yes – but that doesn’t mean you still shouldn’t take any of your own photographs. While a professional photographer is normally on hand to snap pictures of the happy couple and the wedding guests, taking your own photographs will allow just a tiny moment for you to regroup with the bride, check on how she’s doing, and snap an epic picture for the ‘Gram.

You’ll need an Emergency Kit for the wedding

As a bridesmaid, it’s your job to ensure that the bride is happy and healthy at all times – and if you fail that mission, you may never be a bridesmaid again (*gasp*). So, to ensure maximum efficiency, it’s best to piece together an emergency kit full of everything you could possibly need. Yep, fill a bag with things like deodorant, plasters, hair pins, lipstick, and even some candy if the food isn’t up to scratch. This way the bride will know that even if things do go wrong, you’re on hand to fix it. Or at least try.

What I wish I knew before being a bridesmaid for the first time

Even the nicest brides can turn into Bridezillas

If you’ve yet to get married, you won’t quite understand – but you at least need to be in the know. While your wedding day is supposed to be the best day of your life, this also comes with a heck load of pressure… and we all know what happens when too much pressure builds up. Boom. Sometimes the nicest brides can turn into Bridezilla during wedding planning, but you need to remember that this is just temporary.

Have you been a bridesmaid? Do you agree? Well, duh! Of course you do!

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