5 Proper Ways To Manage Bridal Party & Thank Them For Their Support

Here’s how you can successfully plan a perfect day for you AND your bridal party.

Researched, written by Amber & The Team
Updated on May 19, 2023

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A modern bride has a lot to contend with when it comes to planning her special day. Back in the day, brides would book a wedding at a full-service venue, leaving only the countdown and building excitement for the bridal party – people who will help and accompany a bride before and on her wedding day.

These days, brides have typically located unique venues for ceremony and reception, with additional styling and services to complete the day. This added wedding day planning can make managing a bridal party challenging, so let’s discuss how you can successfully plan a perfect day for you and your bridal party.

What Is Bridal Party?

A common mistake that people make is thinking of a bridal party literally as a party, or celebration for a bride and her bridesmaids. However, the term “bridal party” actually means “the bride and groom and the people who stand with them during the wedding ceremony” (according to Merriam-Webster).

How To Manage Your Bridal Party (And Thank Them For Being With You)

1. Acknowledge the Importance of Their Role

Being a part of a bridal party is more than just a gesture. It is an important role that ensures that brides and grooms arrive on time, look pretty, and feel loved and supported up until then.

Giving groomsmen and bridesmaids gifts is a beautiful way to acknowledge their support, and it’s also a great way to reiterate why you chose them to be part of your special day.

Popular bridesmaid gifts can be journals, candles, jewelry, and mementos. Really anything that is meaningful to you and your bridal party will make the perfect gift and way of remembering this journey.

2. Create a clear timeline

Creating a clear timeline is a great way to keep the festivities on track, and it eliminates any confusion for your bridal party over what is next and who is involved.

There are lots of apps, programs, and platforms to design your timeline and you can assign people to the online timeline. Some events that you may want to include would be planning days, celebratory meals, rehearsal dinners, fittings, and all other special events.

A timeline might also give your bridal party the opportunity to flag dates that will not work for them and save you having any stressful rearranging down the track.

3. Delegate To Your Bridal Party

A bridal party will be there for any and all requests you may have.

With all the planning, you want to know that your bridal party is there to assist with those tasks, so you may wish to delegate jobs to your bridal party. These are not going to be big tasks, but rather areas where they can gather information or be the correspondent for a certain supplier.

If you have bridal party members that do not live in the same state as you, then you may wish to choose another person for some of the local tasks. Similarly, if your siblings make up part of your bridal party you may feel more comfortable giving them greater responsibilities.

4. Less Is More

A general rule of thumb for planning something special can be ‘less is more’. Often, we set out with big aspirations on what to do and how it will make us feel, but what really makes us feel special are the people around us.

When it comes to managing your bridal party, take a path that will make your life easier, as you want to be growing excited for the big day and not dread the chaos and over-commitments. If organizing matching outfits for your bridal party is shaping up to be a big task, encourage your bridal party to wear what they want as long as they stick to a color or theme of your choice.

5. Create A Group Chat Or Facebook Group

The easiest way to communicate wedding information to your bridal party is through a group chat. Here you can share inspiration, ask people if they have booked accommodation, and generally get a pulse check on how things are progressing in the lead-up to the wedding.

A group chat is so much more convenient than communicating with lots of different people individually. An online chat or group also allows your bridal party to get to know each other more intimately. This is especially important if they have never met, as you want them to feel familiar with one another at the wedding.

Be sure to share the load with your partner too so that both sides of the bridal party are getting excited about the big days and can engage on a group level.

Conclusion

As the countdown starts towards your wedding day, you want to know that your bridal party is excited too and feels informed and supported. A modern bride has many things on her plate, so follow this guide to better manage your bridal party so you can experience the best day of your life as an intimate group.