Today's Wedding Wednesday addresses a question we got from a reader.
"Do you have any tips on how to navigate a wedding when your friends and date will be dutifully attending the bride and groom?" -Natalie
There's so many different ways you can approach this, and it's really up to you.
Enjoy being a guest. You don't have any of the added stress that comes with being in the bridal party! Sleep in and then find something fun to do with yourself for the day, especially if its an out of town wedding. Go to a spa, get pretty and show up to the wedding looking awesome and ready to dance the night away.
But, if you really feel like you want to be a part of things...
Offer to help. There's always something that needs to be done around a wedding. You could do a coffee run for the wedding party as they are getting ready. Offer to be on call to run any needed errands. You could help with decorations, or set up. If your date is a groomsmen, sometimes the guys need a little added help with being on time, ironing clothes, tying ties, etc.
Regardless of how you spend your day, I highly suggest...
Make a new friend. Chances are there's at least one other person in a similar situation to you. Have you're partner ask the other groomsmen/bridesmaids to see who else has a date that's worrying about having no one to hang out with. I found that it's easy to bond quickly with someone who's in the same boat as you. This way you'll be sure to have someone to sit with at the ceremony.
Do you have a question/idea for a future Wedding Wednesday post? Let us know! Leave us a comment or email us: thethingswewouldblog (at) gmail (dot) com.
I had never thought of this from this angle before! I was a bridesmaid at my first friend wedding, and my date was a dream - but I never realized it until now! He was very happy to make his own friends and have a great time when I was off doing my duties, even though he knew no one there - I should send him an email (5 years later, haha!) to say thank you :)
ReplyDeleteMy fiance was a groomsman in a wedding that I attened with him. Everyone else at the wedding that I knew was in the wedding - so I ended up being by myself. It ended up being SO MUCH fun because it was a destination wedding, so everyone was on vacation for a few days to a week - so I made new friends with the girls' husbands/boyfriends that were also in the wedding! We helped out with wedding festivities & set-up - & when everyone was off doing pictures & wedding related dutes - I hung out with new friends :)
ReplyDeleteGoing with someone to a wedding that's in the wedding doesn't have to be a bad thing. It can be a great opportunity to make a few new friends! :)
This is exactly what I was wanting to encourage in the post. I'm so glad to hear it worked out so well for you!
DeleteAmen. There will (almost) always be someone else in the wedding party who has a date/S.O./spouse that is not in the wedding for you to friend and have a good time with!
DeleteThanks a lot for the pointers, guys! =)
ReplyDeleteWhen my now-husband was in a wedding when we were dating I picked my closest friend at the wedding and told him he was my date until dinner. We had a blast!
ReplyDeleteThe groomsmen also got ready in our room so I ended up ironing a lot of shirts, somehow even for people not in the wedding party.
When I was the bride, I invited my maid-of-honor's boyfriend's best friend who I am friends with so he would have someone to hang out with - knowing that they were coming all the way from Philly to Seattle and the boyfriend wouldn't know a lot of people who weren't also in the wedding party.