Maid of Honor Duties: The Ultimate Survival Guide

Congratulations! You’ve just been assigned one of the most important roles in the wedding party! Whether you’re the maid of honor or matron of honor, one of your significant responsibilities is to make life easier for the bride during the wedding planning, including wedding-dress shopping and hosting the bridal shower. With helpful tips, and a checklist of items to be aware of, you’ll be ready to take on whatever the wedding party (or the bride) happens to throw at you.

Depending on the wedding, maid of honor duties might entail delegating tasks and activities for bridesmaids. Jennifer T. from Winston-Salem, North Carolina explains:

“My bridesmaids ranged from ages 21 to 34, were from different friend groups, and didn’t have a ton in common. So my maid of honor set up a few non-wedding related outings—like a spa day and brunch—to help the group get acquainted. Everyone wound up getting along great!”

Another maid of honor duty might be checking out the perfect venues to match the bride’s vintage wedding dress. No matter what tasks you assign and accomplish in the coming months, the most important is that you fulfill your role by being the best possible support for the bride. (And don’t forget a fabulous maid of honor speech at the reception!) As such, we’ve gathered a survival guide armed with typical maid of honor duties, tips and costs to be aware of as you journey through your maid of honor role.

Fun Fact:

The first bridesmaids were likely used as decoys—young women of similar appearance and dress to the bride, who would be able to confuse and misdirect any unfriendly spirits or demons who might wish to curse the couple. However, the duties that we commonly associate with maids of honor, matrons of honor and bridesmaids didn’t become a part of traditional wedding practices until weddings became more planned, celebratory events. Early maids of honor were most likely family servants or trusted family friends who were responsible for attending to the bride before, during and after the wedding. Her tasks included: helping the bride get dressed, decorating for the wedding feast and making the bridal wreath.

As you can see, these traditions live on in today’s maid of honor duties. Every wedding is unique and different, so talk with the bride to see what is expected of you and of other main wedding participants.