Delegating Responsibilities to Your Wedding Party
Selecting the members of your wedding party can be a fun and rewarding experience. This is the chance to get sentimental with the friends and family members who have been with you through thick and thin. Of course, it also can be asking a whole lot of the people in your life. Some brides and grooms make the mistake of putting far more on the shoulders of their parties than they should. You want to still be close friends with these people after the wedding has finished, so it is important to take caution.
To get a better feel for what is reasonable to ask of your wedding party members, it is a good idea to take a look at what other people have established over the years. By following a blend of customary techniques and personal adjustments, you and your partner should be able to come up with a balanced plan for the members of your wedding party.
Showers and Outings
Marriage can cost a small fortune. Since you have a lot of financial responsibilities on your plate, it is traditional to turn to the members of your bridal party to foot the bill when necessary. Any finances related to the wedding itself will fall on you and your partner to take care of. However, preliminary events like showers and bachelor or bachelorette parties are a very different story. For the most part, members of the party will be responsible for covering the expenses related to these extra events.
While it is customary for the party members to plan, execute, and cover the costs of these aspects of the wedding, you need to make sure you aren’t asking more than you should. A bachelorette party is one thing, but asking your party members to fly to another country to go on a wine tour for a week is a bit more intense. Stay reasonable in your requests, or cover the costs of the expenses you are demanding. Asking your party members to cover lavish costs for your farfetched ideas can be insensitive.
Covering Your Own Finances
The men and women who make up your party are going to need to take care of many expenses for your special day. Still, you will need to make sure you are taking care of other costs. Any financial obligations related to hair and makeup on the day of the wedding, for example, will fall onto the happy couple. This is also true of costs centering around transportation to and from the venue, floral accessories like a bouquet, and lodging for the night before the actual ceremony.
Knowing what costs you should be covering can help you to keep the members of your wedding party happy and ready for anything you throw at them. Buying gifts for the men and women in your party will also show your appreciation. Try to get a gift that is both sentimental and effective at showcasing how happy you are to have each individual involved with your wedding.
Travel Concerns
Finally, travel can be tricky to figure out with your party members. In most cases, people in your wedding party are responsible for arriving at your venue on their own. You also might consider covering some of the costs for members of the party who are traveling a far distance to get to your special event.
The people who comprise your wedding party are going to have a big impact on how your day turns out. When the time comes to start asking members of the party to take care of certain duties, it can be helpful to have a grasp on what you should and should not ask. Use your discretion, and you will be able to take the best course of action.