Sharon Naylor
Sharon Naylor is the author of over 30 wedding books, including 1000 Best Secrets For Your Perfect Wedding, 1000 Best Wedding Bargains, Your Special Wedding Vows, Your Special Wedding Toasts, The Mother of the Bride Book, Mother of the Groom, The Groom's Guide, The Essential Guide to Wedding Etiquette, The Complete Outdoor Wedding Planner, and more. She has appeared as a wedding expert on Nightline, Lifetime, Inside Edition, ABC News, Fox 5 News, and on hundreds of radio stations nationally and internationally. Read more about Sharon Naylor here. Sharon is also happy to asnwer your wedding-related questions in her forum.
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As the Maid or Matron of Honor, you have an extra-special place in the bride’s heart. In addition to all of the responsibilities the bridesmaids hold [insert link], here are the additional tasks that fall to you:
• Organize the bridal shower. In most cases, the Maid of Honor is the main planner, the leader in the party plans. So contact all of the bridesmaids to get their ideas and site suggestions, and then you lead the plans from there.
• Help keep track of gifts and givers. At the bridal shower, it is usually the Maid of Honor who sits next to the bride, recording who gave which gifts to the couple. Your notes are invaluable for thank-you-note writing, so be careful for accuracy.
• Organize the bridesmaids’ dress shopping process. You’re the point person for getting everyone’s sizes, deposits and final payments, and you may also be responsible for shipping the dresses to the bridesmaids. You might also be in charge of organizing the group shoe purchase and dye order, also shipping shoes to the bridesmaids.
• Handle bridesmaid requests and questions. If a bridesmaid has endless questions about the dress or shoes, you step in to relieve the bride from any stress.
• Attend pre-wedding parties and bring a gift
• Help the bride get dressed and ready on the wedding day
• Hold the groom's wedding ring during the ceremony
• Hold the bride’s bouquet during the ceremony
• Participate in the ceremony as requested by the couple
• Arrange the bride's veil and train for the processional, during the ceremony (such as when she walks to the unity candle table) and recessional
• Witness the signing of the marriage certificate
• Help the bride with anything she needs during the reception
• Propose a toast during the reception
Throughout the wedding planning months, you will be a source of emotional comfort for the bride, so be sure to call her and ask her how everything is going, be available if she needs to vent or cry, and remind her that the most important part of the day is that she is getting married to her best friend, and that is what matters most.
