Everything you need to know about your bridal party

You are engaged and you ask yourselves many questions about your bridal party? Right in your wedding preparations, it is important that you think together about the people who will surround you and help you in this beautiful milestone. We answer all the questions you can ask about your bridal party, your bridesmaids and groomsmen!

What is a bridal party?

Let’s start at the beginning: what is the bridal party? The bridal party is made up of people who are close to you, who will help you during your wedding preparation as well as during your wedding day. Thus, besides your parents, your bridal party includes your bridesmaids and groomsmen, your maid of honour and your man of honour as well as children.

How to choose the members of your bridal party?

Taking part of your bridal party is an important role, because you will solicit these people’s help a lot. We therefore advise you to carefully make up your bridal party, in order to have bridesmaids and groomsmen you can trust. We also recommend you to think about several practical aspects, which are admittedly less emotional, but very useful! Thus, what is the time and energy that these people will be able to give you and your wedding? Do they live close to you? If not, are these people ready to travel for you? Do they seem ready to get involved in your wedding preparations?

Furthermore, are you still close to the people you are considering for your bridal party? Because yes, it can be tempting to ask one’s best friend since high school to be one’s bridesmaid or groomsman, but if you don’t really spend any time together these days… it might be a false good idea. It is always better to choose amongst your friends and families people with whom you are regularly in contact. This will give you the chance to be on the same wavelength! Indeed, being part of a bridal party is a beautiful privilege, but it also means many duties and responsibilities.

The future bride will traditionally choose her maid of honour and her bridesmaids, while the groom will choose his man of honour and his groomsmen. However, it is absolutely possible for the bride to have a party of men and for the groom a party of women. It depends on the key people you want to surround yourselves with on your big day, there is no gender obligation to respect!

How many bridesmaids and groomsmen can you choose for your bridal party?

The number of people you choose to be in your bridal party, your bridesmaids and groomsmen is a personal choice. Traditionally, the bridal party is made up of two to twelve people. But you are welcome to change this number because there is no rule for this! However, we advise you to have as many bridesmaids as groomsmen, in order to get a beautiful symmetry on your wedding photos. It will be more elegant than if one of you two has a bigger group than the other!

What are the roles of the different members of your bridal party?

It is useful to distinguish that each person who is in your bridal party has a different role, before and during your big day. Before your wedding day, the members of your bridal party will have to be available to help you with the wedding preparation and be present for your bachelor and bachelorette parties. Furthermore, they will also take part in the repetition of your ceremony (if you organize one).

In general, the members of your bridal party should be present since the beginning of your preparations on your wedding day. Indeed, your maid of honour and your bridesmaids can help you to get dresses and you can also organize preparations together! This way will allow you to spend some quality time together, and to start this important day in good spirits. It is of course the same for your man of honour and your groomsmen! It is a day of celebrations, you might as well enjoy some quality time with your bridal party.

We recommend you to let your close ones know what you expect of them when you ask them to join your bridal party! This will prevent communication and comprehension difficulties between yourselves afterwards.

The role of the maid of honour and the man of honour

The maid of honour and the man of honour are important people and should be distinguished from your bridesmaids and groomsmen. Indeed, they are the “leaders” of the other members of your bridal party.

The maid of honour and the man of honour will:

• Help the future married couple in their wedding preparations
• Participate in the fittings of the wedding dress and costume
• Take care of coordinating the different members of your bridal party on the big day
• Sign the legal registers
• Organize the bachelor and bachelorette parties of the lucky couple

The role of the bridesmaids and the groomsmen

On their side, the bridesmaids and groomsmen have to assist the future couple as much as possible. Their role is less organizational than participative in the festivities.

• They take part in the bachelor and bachelorette parties that the maid and man of honour organize
• The maid and man of honour can put them to contribution with the organization
• They also take part in the photo sessions, the ceremony entrance and the reception

In addition, if the bride chooses to throw her bouquet, the bridesmaids have to be in place to try getting it. Likewise, if you choose to shake up the codes and to have the groom throwing his boutonniere, it is the groomsmen who are solicited!

The roles of the children

The children who are in your wedding party also have a beautiful role to fulfill during your day. Indeed, if you wish to include children in your ceremony, you can ask little girls and little boys to participate. They can hold the bride’s train, scatter petals down the aisle and carry your rings. We recommend you to choose children between the ages of four and ten to entrust them with these beautiful missions.

Which outfits should you plan for the members of your bridal party?

Your maids of honour and bridesmaids as well as your groomsmen and man of honour deserve an outfit worthy of their roles! If your wedding dress·es and costume·s are evidently your priority, the outfits of your bridal party are not to be neglected. The possibilities are infinite to dress appropriately your bridal party!

We recommend you our Infinity dresses for your bridesmaids and maids of honour! Thanks to their unique design of a skirt and two bands of fabric, they are infinitely adjustable: your ladies will just have to use their imagination (or follow our tutorials) to drape their dress. Furthermore, our Infinity dresses exist in six different versions and in more than sixty colours: you are sure to find the perfect outfit for your bridal party, bridesmaids and maids of honour included! The perfect solution to get a harmony between your bridesmaids’ dresses while giving them the opportunity to choose a cut that will suit them.

Who pays for the bridal party’s outfits?

There is no rule as far as the payment of the bridal party’s outfits is concerned. Commonly, if you let everybody free to get dressed as they see fit or with just a colour request, it seems more normal that the bridal party is responsible to pay for their party outfit. However, if you demand they wear a specific outfit (such as an Infinity dress for your bridesmaids and a specific suit for your groomsmen), they can expect you to assume this expense. You should talk about this directly with them!

On average, the bridesmaids’ dresses cost between $100 and $500. Our Infinity dresses start with the low price of $200 + tx (to shop our Infinity dress, click here).

Finally, if your bridal party includes children and you would like them to wear a specific outfit, it is traditional for the bride and groom to pay them. It is a beautiful gesture that the parents will greatly appreciate!

Do the bridesmaids and groomsmen have to match?

It is absolutely not compulsory to match your bridesmaids and groomsmen! If you don’t give them any dress criterion, the result will be natural and coloured. However, if you want to have a harmony and unity on your wedding photos, you will need matching outfits. So it really depends on the effect you are looking for. Take the time to discuss this with your partner and look at wedding photos on inspiring blogs. You will be able to make the decision that is the most like you!

Does the married couple have to impose a dress code to their bridal party?

Once more, there is no obligation for the future married couple to impose anything if you don’t want to. What matters is that your wedding looks like you! You can therefore ask your bridesmaids to wear an Infinity dress and your groomsmen to wear a beautiful costume with a tie in the colour of your theme, ask them to wear a specific colour… or even not specify anything! Either way, you need to be comfortable with your decision.

To know more:
– Our Infinity bridesmaids dresses
– Our tutorials to drape the Infinity dress
– The good adresses to shop for the groom’s outfit in Montreal

How to plan the ceremony entrance?

The long-awaited moment of your wedding, your ceremony, has a few codes. You can choose to respect or to ignore them: nowadays it is more a guide than an obligation!

This is the traditional entrance of all the members of your bridal party:

• The children are the first to make their entrance. They scatter flowers as they walk down the aisle and carry your rings to the officiant.
• All your bridesmaids and groomsmen follow the children. They can walk two by two or one behind the other, in the order you choose.
• It is then the groom’s turn! Traditionally, the groom makes his entrance escorted by his mother.
• The father of the groom and the mother of the bride follow the groom down the aisle.
• It is finally the entrance often the most expect, the bride’s! Same as the groom, the bride is traditionally escorted by her father.

However, we see more and more couples who shake up the codes and make their entrances escorted by both their parents or even alone. Personally, we find it so beautiful when the two parents escort their child down the aisle. A strong and beautiful proof of love!

How to thank the members of your bridal party?

Although it is not obligatory, many couples choose to offer a little gift to the members of their bridal party to thank them for their availability and their implication for their wedding. It can be a small homemade present, such as a candle or a soap. You can also offer your bridal party their accommodation for the wedding night if you all go in a hotel or a cabin. You can be assured that your close ones will appreciate feeling pampered and thanked even on your wedding day.

Do you need more practical advice for the organization of your wedding? Download for free our notebook JOLI RENDEZ-VOUS by clicking here!

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