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Confession: Before 2015, I hadn't been in a single wedding.
I had attended three weddings in my entire life. And I’d never been asked to do anything other than show up and smile. My knowledge of bridesmaids (and the all-important maids of honor) was limited to what I'd seen in movies like 27 Dresses and The Wedding Planner.
So, last year, when one of my closest friends from college asked me to be maid of honor in her upcoming wedding, I wasn’t sure what to do. I said yes in a panic, because I was pretty sure that saying no was out of the question. She’d been planning her wedding since before we finished college — so this was major.
In the year since then, I’ve learned so much about what it means to play a key role in someone else's wedding. I've also had the unique experience of sharing my title and duties with a co-maid of honor, also an old college friend. It’s great because I have a teammate and partner of my very own throughout what can be a fairly trying experience. It also means that the bride isn't leaving all her planning to a newbie with little wedding know-how.
There's a reason they call it a maid of honor. It’s truly an honor to be asked, and to share and partake in these meaningful moments in a close friend's life. Is it scary? Yep. Is it exhausting? Yes. Do I wish that the first week of June would just get here already so the wedding would be over and I could go chill on a beach for a few days? HELL YES. But this is what I signed up for.
The wedding is still months away, and I’m sure that I’ll learn so much more. But as I work through the good, the bad, and the WTF, I’m happy to share what wisdom I have. Ahead, the 10 most important lessons I’ve learned about the major expectations and tasks that come along with being a bridesmaid or maid of honor.
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