The duties of a Maid-of-Honor are often over-looked… its a HUGE responsibility. It is that delegated woman’s role to ensure that all things stay as planned (and sane) for her best friend, before she marries the man of her dreams. It is that woman’s duty to make sure that she carries her role through to the best of her ability, and she’ll know that she has successfully by the look on her friend’s face.

I thought it may not be a bad idea to post a few reminder tips of a Bridal Shower’s little components that often mean so much.

Host – usually the Maid-of-Honor takes on the duty of planning the bridal shower & taking care of the event’s costs.

Date & Time – as this is often an event that will need to fit many individuals’ calendars, it is best to pick a date & time (usually two to eight weeks before the wedding) and stick to it!

Venue – choose a place to hold your shower that is best suited to your theme & guest list, be sure to include area for eating & mingling.

Budget – we all know that events can get very pricy, establishing a budget is usually the first step in planning a bridal shower.

Food – An important after thought for many has to do with accommodating different dietary meal plans; be sure to choose foods that are acceptable to various palettes & tolerances. Always consider your guestlist.

Theme – While ‘Bridal’ or ‘Wedding’ is usually a given, wedding themes such as ‘Vacation Wedding’ or ‘Super Hero Wedding’ will often spill into the wedding-related events.

Guestlist – While many couples opt to take the ‘Jack & Jill’, co-ed approach to their wedding shower. The, single-sex, bridal shower guestlist usually includes: the bride’s wedding party, her mother, her sisters, her fiance’s mother, her fiance’s sisters, the bride’s closest female friends, close female co-workers & female extended family members on both sides. While every female invited to the wedding is not usually invited to attend, most close females will be.

Games – these usually begin with a social icebreaker game, such as trivia, to engage guests. Other games will include Bridal Bingo, Bridal Checklist & Pass the Bouquet.

Registries – signing up to a few registries is always recommended for the bride and groom, so that guests are able to get gifts that the couple really want.

Thank You’s – Within a week of the event, it is always great for the bride & groom to-be to send Thank You cards to the individuals who brought gifts. Maid of Honor’s should always be sure that someone is recording who each gift is from while they are being opened at the shower.