Say Thank You to Your Bridesmaids

Everyone knows that a wedding day is the bride’s day. But it takes many people to make this day truly special. It’s the savvy and wise bride who takes the time to say “Thank You” to her bridesmaids and maid of honor for their hard work and efforts. Being a bridesmaid or maid of honor sometimes can be quite a challenge, and only someone who has done this task will understand what it takes.

Brides have been known to ask bridesmaids for help planning their wedding, with the small and big details. Anything from helping them to pick out a wedding dress to hand addressing wedding invitations. Some bridesmaids or maid of honor may feel at times just as overwhelmed as the bride, even though this is not “their day.” But they know they want their friend or family member’s day to be as special and as magical as she hopes it will be.

Say “Thank You” to your hardworking bridesmaids or maid of honor during wedding planning and also after the wedding. Don’t worry if your wedding budget is stretched to the limit: you can still offer a heartfelt, meaningful “Thank You” that they will appreciate. Here are some of our favorite tips to say “Thank You” to these wonderful women who’ve helped with your wedding day.

Hold a Thank You lunch or dinner for their bridesmaids and maid of honor. You can hold this before the wedding or even after the wedding, when you are back from your honeymoon. But if you hold the Thank You lunch after your wedding, it’s important to say “Thank You” before your wedding day to each of your bridesmaids and maid of honor. Make the lunch special and all about your bridesmaids and maid of honor. Don’t talk about the wedding; this is a day to celebrate your gal pals. A lovely gift for your bridesmaids and maid of honor on this day is a framed picture of all of you; it can be a casual or formal picture.

Thank You letter. There’s something special about a letter, in this day and age they have become even more rare. People often send emails or a quick cell phone call. A wonderful way to say “Thank You” to your bridesmaids and maid of honor is to write a Thank You letter to each of them. Don’t worry about being a great writer, just speak from the heart. Tell them how special they are to you and how helpful they have been in making your wedding a wonderful day. Don’t worry about how long or how short your letter is, this is not a homework assignment! Focus on saying “Thank You” and sending a personalized letter to each of them.

Get Personal with a thoughtful gift. You can find many personalized gifts for bridesmaids when you visit wedding favor stores, online or brick and mortar stores. There are hundreds, if not dozens of choices for you. Whether you choose a tote bag, sterling silver picture frame, beach towel, jewelry or other lovely gift – we’ll let you in on the biggest secret of them all. The very best personalized gift for bridesmaids and your maid of honor that you can give to say “Thank You” is not necessarily the exact same one to each of them, or one that focuses on the theme of your wedding. The best gift is one that you think that specific bridesmaid or maid of honor will enjoy the most. If you know that bridesmaid loves the beach, then choose the beach towel. If another bridesmaid takes dozens of photos with her digital camera, choose the sterling silver photo frame. You see? The right gift for the right bridesmaid or maid of honor, personalize it by thinking of them personally, individually.

Thank You! to all the wonderful, helpful bridesmaids and maid of honors who’ve made the bride’s day so special!

15 Things I Learned from Being a Bridesmaid

Being a bridesmaid is a great honor but for grown-ups, being the bridesmaid, or worse, the maid of honor for one of your best friends can be an experience that you may not want to repeat too often or ever again!

Here are 15 things I learned as a bridesmaid veteran of five weddings:

1. Remember it’s not your day!  The bride is the center of attention and it is her big day so be prepared to cater for her every whim.  After all, as bridesmaid you only have to deal with Little Miss’ tantrums and spats for a few rehearsals and the day of the wedding, after that the poor guy she’s marrying has to deal with her for life;
2. While you may not be the center of attention as far as the wedding is concerned, you can be assured of being the center of attention for lots of guys!  I should know because I met my husband when I was a bridesmaid for the 4^th time but be careful if you are thinking this will be a great way to find a catch because:
3. Never, and I mean NEVER! Let a guy open the door and escort you if he calls you “Sugar”, “Babe” or worse, “Sugarbabe!”;
4. Do not let a bride convince you to wear grapevine as headgear.  Yes you can still find it, on a remote hillside in South Carolina on property owned by a gun toting hillbilly aged 72 and related to Jed Clampett as both his brother and second uncle;
5. Wearing woven grapevine leaves marks, both physical and emotional, which last for up to 6 months, if you have the choice, wear a crown of thorns instead;
6. Glue guns are a great invention for people who want to stick things and are not worried about whether they will explode or not – just remember that glue guns do overheat and will overheat because they are going to get a lot of use and as bridesmaid, you have to pitch in;
7. Brides want everyone to wear matching ear rings so be prepared to get your ears pierced if you haven’t already done so;
8. If you are asked to write a speech, do not retell the time when your “Best Friend”, who is getting married, was violently ill after drinking too much and ended the evening clinging to the toilet, swearing the world was ending and she couldn’t let it go because there was an earthquake (we lived in Ohio at the time);
9. If you are serious about catching the bouquet when the bride throws it, make sure you are wearing an outfit which will hold you in, as falling out of the top of your dress while stretching for the flowers can be very revealing resulting in more guys calling you “Sugar”, “Babe” etc;
10. Do NOT get drunk at the reception!;
11. The old saying, “Always a bridesmaid and never a bride!” is simply not true, I’m happily married to my husband whom I met when serving as a bridesmaid at wedding number 4;
12. Do everything you can to convince the bride that bridesmaid can get out of their dresses and into practical dress as soon as possible for the evening.  If she won’t budge on this, make sure the bridesmaids dresses are comfortable and practical if you have to spend the day in them;
13. The same applies to shoes!
14. Buying gifts for the bride and groom should really be about getting them things they will enjoy – people buy the most boring and unoriginal gifts which cost a fortune but the ones that make an impression are the ones where a lot of thought has gone into them;
15. Being a bridesmaid for five friends I am not interested in repeating the experience unless by new baby girl really wants me to do it for her !

Creative Maid of Honor Speeches

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Wow.  What a time in life.  If you’ve been selected to give the Maid of Honor Speech at your friend’s wedding, you’re likely trying to get some ideas.  Allow me to attempt to provide you with the best of what I know from my years of experience as a professional speaking consultant.

Plan Your Maid of Honor Speech

Planning is important, and you’ve done a great thing by looking for information ahead of time.  You’d be surprised how many people ignore the fear they have about public speaking and tell themselves “I’ll figure it out the couple of days before,” “the night before,” or God forbid “in the car on the way there.  ” By the way, if you’re not feeling nervous, I’m worried.  What I’m trying to convey here is that it’s completely normal to feel anything from a tad jittery to utterly panicked at the idea of giving your maid of honor speech.  It’s totally normal.  I still get nervous every single time I prepare to speak, whether at a professional engagement, or even a casual dinner.  Okay, now that you are assured your nerves are normal, let’s take a look at the maid of honor speech itself.

The technical aspects of the Maid of Honor Speech

First, you might consider starting by telling the audience who you are, and thanking them for coming.  Then, think about a story or two.  Everyone on the planet loves to hear a story.  The first might be something about what you thought of the groom when you first met him.  This always seems to be a good topic, because it’s perfectly acceptable for you to just slightly poke fun at him, as if to say “I wasn’t really sure about Jim when he first started dating Laura.  He drove this old beat up car and had a slightly strange craving for French fries after midnight.”

Maid of Honor Speeches (Examples)

Hello!  Just in case I haven’t had the chance to meet you in person yet, I’m _________.  I’m the maid of honor today, and I’m so proud of _______ (the bride).  First, I want to say congrats ________(bride & groom).  Also, thanks to _______(the bride’s parents, who likely put on the wedding) and everyone who came from near and far to be here with ________(bride and groom) on their very special day.

Keep any jabs you might consider aiming at the groom in your maid of honor speech to a low level.  As you will probably be sensing just thinking about your past experience, at a wedding, people place the parts of themselves that might be frustrated about the “darker side” of humanity on hold .  They are there to experience feelings of love, joy and happiness.  They don’t want to be reminded about the nasty things that can come out in people, like lust, greed, pain, etc .  So keep from telling jokes that might hint at these things.  A tiny, ever-so-slightly negative comment about the groom is okay, but only once, and if you do, try to make it very light.

When I first ran across ____ (groom), I recall wondering whether everything would work out. I recall him coming to the door (or hearing about him knocking on her door if you weren’t living with the bride) one night at midnight calling for _____(bride).  He was wearing this old flannel shirt, and I think asked ____(bride) if she wanted to get some french fries.I had my second thoughts , but as I got to know him better, I began to see he was an easy person to talk to, he has a good sense of humor, and eventually I came to the conclusion he was a perfect match for ______(bride).  I want to be the second to welcome _______(groom) to the family. We hope we can show you the same outgoing and open spirit as you have shown us.

Looking for the perfect Maid of Honor Speeches, Click Here!

Free Wedding Speeches Can Help Novice Speakers

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If you have been called upon to make a wedding speech at an upcoming wedding, or if you just want to be prepared with a good wedding toast, then you may be happy to know that there are some sources of free wedding speeches to help you out. While these free speech resources might not turn you into a polished public speaker, they can give you some pointers and tips to on how to make your words more refined.

For the wedding reception, most couples plan for three people to give a wedding speech, although it is up to the couple’s discretion to ask more or fewer people to speak. Traditionally, there are father of the bride speeches, best man speeches and the bridegroom speeches given as part of the reception. At times, siblings, the father of the groom and even the maid of honor are asked to speak, as well as anyone the couple feels can add a special sentiment to their day.

The vast majority of people never are called upon to speak in public, so giving a wedding speech can end up being a very nerve-wracking proposition for most. The many stresses that the couple and the whole wedding party experience during the days leading up to the wedding can add to this nervousness.

This is when looking for free wedding speeches resources can help a great deal, as the more prepared one is, the smaller a part nerves will play on the big day. With the structure of a free wedding speech in hand, you can often set aside the fear of public speaking and focus on what you want to say to the couple.

It is a simple fact that free wedding speeches, which can be obtained online, can significantly help to eliminate the fear of public speaking. They can also help to solidify your thoughts, which is particularly helpful for those whose minds go completely blank when faced with the task of saying something meaningful at an event so important as a wedding.

Free wedding speeches are basically simple, pre-outlined orations, humorous thoughts and jokes and even poetry that you can use to give your wedding speech a framework to start with. While a free wedding speech will obviously be generic, it does give you a place to start so that you can insert specifics about the bride and groom to make the comments more customized and personal. The more you are able to interject interesting tidbits of information and insights into the speech, the more meaningful it will be to everyone in the group.

Downloading your favorite free speech from a helpful website will get the ball rolling. At this point, you can add your personal commentary, put some effort into memorizing and practicing your speech and then you will be ready to make your wedding speech debut.

Some of the best advice you can follow to make the most of the wedding speech you have prepared is to say it out loud over and over again as you memorize it. This will help you find just the right voice inflections and help you naturally know when to pause and what words to emphasize. With daily practice before the event, by the time the wedding day arrives, you will be calm and confident even if you are a novice at public speaking.

Although there are some who are simply naturals at giving a wedding speech, the majority of people need a little help along the way to feeling confident about giving wedding speeches and toasts in front of a gathering of family and friends. Using free wedding speeches can help you avoid embarrassing comments and will make you more assured and comfortable.