With the size of bridal parties increasing at what seems like an exponential rate these days, I thought it only fitting to give a little advice to help couples "rally their troops".
While the members of your Bridal party may have the best of intentions, it's quite common that when they get together for the rehearsal, chatter between family members and long time friends, will overtake any directions given that day.
To avoid potential chaos at what should be a 60 minute rehearsal, here are a few tips:
Prior to wedding day, assemble a Bridal party contact information sheet with the names of the Bridal party members, role in the Wedding, cell phone/contact phone numbers and email addresses. This worksheet will definitely come in handy on the day of the Wedding to give to your Day Of Coordinator, or your "person in charge"
for the day.
Approximately 1 month before the wedding, send an email to the bridal party giving a brief synopsis of the major events leading up to the wedding. In it, include the contact information for your "go to person" and request that going forward, all questions are directed to them. This will allow some of the common "stressers" to be alleviated so that you and your fiance can concentrate on your wedding ceremony (and honeymoon).
Two weeks before the wedding, send a follow-up email to the bridal party of the actual details of the day. In it, include items such as:
Attire pickup information and times. Remind BP to check out all their attire inclusions to assure everything fits.
Rehearsal date, time, location and address. Request that your bridal party arrive atleast 15 minutes prior to the rehearsal start time.
Rehearsal dinner date, time, location and address. Bring a hardcopy of directions to the rehearsal to hand out afterwards.
Bridesmaids dressing location. Include notation for information on directions for hair/makeup start times. If Bridesmaids are not getting hair and makeup done together, directions on arrival to site time and that they should come dressed and prepared for pictures.
Groomsmen dressing locations and arrival time.
Transportation information-This can be broad. Just a quick reminder to let people know what time transportation will be arriving.
You also want to include a reminder to the Bridal party to eat. This may sound pretty obvious, but with the excitement of Wedding day, along with the hectic schedules that typically follow, many people simply forget.
Lastly, a sincere thank you for everyone's participation and another gentle reminder of who the "go to" person is going forward and viola, good to go!
If you have a Day Of Coordinator, this service will typically be part of thier service inclusions and I can tell you after years in the business, it definitely works!
1 comment:
Great tips!
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