Top 10 Wedding Etiquette Questions of All Time

Here, we tackle your most pressing dilemmas.

Q: What are the maid of honor’s responsibilities?

A: The bride relies most heavily on the maid of honor (called a matron of honor if the woman is married). Before the wedding, the maid of honor's duties include coordinating the bridesmaid's activities (such as meeting for the dress fittings) and organizing the bridal shower. She should also offer to help the bride with any organizational wedding planning tasks, such as addressing wedding invitations.

On the day of the wedding, the maid of honor helps the bride dress and accompanies her to the wedding ceremony. She precedes the bride and her father down the aisle, arranges the bride's veil and train whenever necessary, and holds her bouquet at the altar. The maid of honor also carries and passes the grooms ring to the bride during the vows, and signs the marriage license as the brides witness after the wedding ceremony. At the wedding reception, she dances with the best man and helps to organize the bridesmaids for formal photographs. Before the couple leaves for their honeymoon, the maid of honor should help the bride change her clothes, and then make sure her dress and bouquet are taken care of until the bride returns.

In some cases, a bride will choose to have both a maid and a matron of honor. Generally the maid of honor's role takes precedence, but some brides divide the duties equally. Either is fine, as long as it's clear who does what.

<< More Top Wedding Etiquette Questions

Pages

Comments

So my husband and I got married at the court house in Brooklyn, NY on February 27th, 2014, with out telling my family. Now we are planning a black tie wedding in St. Louis, MO, on my parents 34th wedding anniversary (5/14/16). I think because my career back ground is bridal, the planning is going really well for me but I really want my guest to come in BLACK TIE. I am worried some family members won’t know how to dress for my wedding. I have really considered sending a small post card with images showing “what to wear" for the women and men. I do not want my guest to think is ok to wearing a long maxi dress to my 5:15pm wedding is ok. I have invest a lot of money into this event, I want my guest to look great. Please Help! How do I get my guest to dress know black tie is a must with out sounding like a bridezilla?!

We have a very small family. My aunt remarried and has a step daughter that is married and has 4 kids. We aren't close however do have some family gathering connections. Do we invite her and her brood to our wedding? PS seating is limited at our reception