Keeping The Peace With Bridesmaids

Everyone’s heard stories about awful bridezillas and miserable bridesmaids. How can you ensure that your bridal party stays happy in the months leading up to your nuptials? Follow these simple steps:

Be Considerate About Time: For the next several months, planning your wedding will be your top priority, but for your bridesmaids, it just isn’t. Hard as it may be to swallow, your bridesmaids have lives and other things to focus their time and energy on. And while it’s certainly acceptable to ask for their help, be respectful of their careers, relationships, and families. It’s not their job to be on call 24 hours a day until your wedding.

Be Considerate About Finances: If you’ve ever been a bridesmaid, you know that between dresses, showers, gifts, bachelorette parties, and traveling, the expenses can add up. Unless your budget allows you to cover all of their expenses, be considerate about your bridesmaids’ finances when selecting a dress, shoes, and accessories for them or when planning pre-wedding festivities or beauty routines. Whenever possible, think of ways you can help your bridesmaids save money. If they’re traveling in from out of town, find them a free or inexpensive place to stay. If they’re trustworthy with their own hair and makeup, don’t insist that they drop a bundle of cash at an expensive salon on the wedding day.

Be Considerate About Appearances: One of the most surefire ways to upset a bridesmaid is to put her in a horrific ensemble. Obviously, this is your wedding and the color scheme and theme is up to you. However, it will go a long way with your attendants if you consider their body and skin types when selecting a bridesmaids dress. If your bridesmaids represent a wide range of shapes and sizes, consider ordering multiple dress styles in the same color or designating a specific color and letting each lady pick out her own gown. Everyone will look great and feel fabulous making for a happy wedding day and great photographs.

Be Considerate About Requests: Part of the bridesmaids’ responsibilities is to be there for you, as the bride, but be careful not to take advantage of them. Although there are a slew of tasks that you’ll need assistance on, be sure that your requests are reasonable. And remember, it’s not just what you ask, it’s how you ask it. Keep your bridesmaids happy by being pleasant, respectful, and gracious instead of demanding, curt, or rude.

Wedding Planning Conflict

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