Brides are under enormous amounts of pressure the year leading up to their wedding. With the rise of Pinterest and wedding blogs, the sheer volume of information and inspiration a bride to be can absorb is infinite. From diets and workout plans to over the top flowers arrangements and bridal styles – Brides become overwhelmed, obsessed, and most of all over informed. If you are a wedding planner you see this all the time. If you are a mom, aunt, or bridesmaid, you may just think your sweet blushing bride has lost her mind. Brides start with a specific view and budget but as the year of planning continues the plans become larger, the details minuet and a new version of the bride evolves – the bridezilla.
Bridezillas are so common – they made a TV show about them. Even the most laid back brides can easily transform during the planning process or at the last minute on their wedding day. As a planner, a mom, an aunt, or a bridesmaid there are a few things you can do in order to help the bride stay her sweet self and enjoy her wedding day.
- Know all the details on her wedding day. The main reason brides turn on their loved ones are the sheer amount of details that only she knows. Each and every moment of the day has been planned and plotted many times over to ensure the perfect day for the newlyweds and their guests. If the bride is the only one who knows what’s going on – then the stress of telling everyone what to do on top of making the biggest commitment of her life is absolutely going to overwhelm her. On the wedding day take over the job of ordering people around. She may have a hard time letting go but in the end she will thank you for letting her enjoy her big day.
- Wrangle the bridesmaids. If you are the Maid of Honor – consider yourself Chief Bridesmaid. The girls should come to you with questions on the details about the wedding day. If you are unsure of the answer, you ask the bride. She has bigger issues to deal with than if Suzy should bring deodorant and hairspray to the bridal suite the morning of the wedding. Make sure you know how to bustle her dress, what makeup and hairstyle the girls should have, if the girls have their dress alterations done, who is staying at what hotel and how everyone is getting to the main event. This will be especially helpful if there are more than a couple bridesmaids.
- Offer to help set up the rehearsal dinner. The night before the wedding, the bride will have wedding bells and rose petals on her mind – the centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner will be the furthest thing from important. If her new in-laws are taking care of it, make sure you check in with the maids and let them know when and where and how they should be getting there.
- Stay next to the bride until she tells you to go sit down. The bride is the last person you want to leave high and dry on her wedding day. She needs someone to answer her phone, help her put her shoes on, carry her flowers, make sure no-one steps on her dress, help her in the bathroom, and get her the occasional glass of water or wine. You may feel a little silly and overbearing but she will absolutely thank you for being so attentive and wonderful – and then she will tell you to go sit with your plus one and enjoy the wedding. Consider your job well done.
