Our favorite funny girls at Beyond Bridesmaids talked to a few of their comrades in arms to find out when they had their epiphanies—so to speak—and realized what being a bridesmaid was really all about. Here, we feature what they found out. Read their real talk now, so you don’t have to learn the hard way.
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It took a lot of bachelorette parties, sweat, and Spanx to earn our badges as seasoned wedding circuit experts. It wasn’t always painless or pretty, but we figured out how to make attending a lot of weddings work, and it starts will one simple motto—as a bridesmaid “it’s not about you!”
If you are a first time bridesmaid, we bet that you are either blissfully unaware of what has truly been asked of you or you have a text chain a mile long venting about it. We’ve been there, and we get it. Especially if you haven’t been a bride yourself, you are doing a lot of eye rolling, complaining about the price of the hotel rooms, the time of the rehearsal or the request for dangly, “but not too big,” blue earrings to match the Mediterranean blue number your bride has picked out for you. It all seems so ridiculous and silly! That is until you realize, that as a bridesmaid, it’s not about you! We tapped into our network of bridesmaids to hear about some of their first time epiphanies, when they were still thinking “it” was all about them.
“Turns out we need to start getting our hair done at sunrise for a 6:30 P.M. ceremony.” Yeah, ya do. Unless you are all flying in your personal stylists, blowouts and smokey eyes for 6, or 8, or 12 ladies aren’t going to happen at everyone’s preferred time. Add in the mothers of the bride or groom primping, group pictures, and travel time to the ceremony, and it starts to make more sense. Pro tip: Always pack your own makeup and accessories for touch ups. These pictures are going to last a lifetime!
“I didn’t understand the stress of planning (a wedding) until I did.”
Bridezilla isn’t our favorite term, but we heard this a lot. SO many things have to line up on one day—multiple vendors, transportation, flowers, families, officiants, food, guests, and let’s not forget the wild card that is the weather! The wedding day, or weekend for that matter, isn’t just about the bride and groom. There are so many people to please, with emotions running DEEP, and it usual falls on your dear bride to sort it all out. Pro tip: Take yourself of off the “to please” list and help her become Bridechilla.
“Only have girls in your wedding that will make the day a freaking relaxed blast—and cut anyone else!!”
Can we get an “Amen”?! When one of the bridesmaids we spoke to, became a bride herself it all fell into place. All of her bridesmaids had been married by the time her wedding rolled around and what she remembers the most is how they showed up, in a big way—getting down on the ground and bustling the dresses, helping out with the pictures, and reigning in wild aunt Julia. Pro tip: Remember this is your BFF! She would do it for you too.
Photographed by Kate Thornton, Captured by Kate
