Making the Most out of Bridal Party

The day has started out perfectly. Everyone is in their designated bridal suites getting ready. The flowers have arrived and the excitement of the ceremony permeates each room. You head off to the church and notice that your missing a bridesmaid, but she’s on her way. You left in enough time that she can catch up and not miss the ceremony. Once the ceremony is over, you ask all of your bridal party to help you get your guests on the Golden Dome steps for a quick photo while you take 2 more photos with your new husband. As your Golden Dome photos wrap up, and your photographer tells the bridal party to “go to Jesus”, you realize you are missing 3 groomsmen that didn’t hear or are talking to their girlfriends on where they should go to wait for them. It’s finally time to make all of those ideas that inspired you from Pinterest to come to life. That’s right, it’s time for the bridal party portraits.

This scenario is one that I see at 95% of all weddings. It’s just the natural process. You, as the bride, can’t plan for everything and the bridal party doesn’t put into as much planning into your day as you do, and that’s fine! They don’t need to, they just need to know where to be and when. Today’s post will hopefully help you think about 1 step that a lot of brides don’t consider.

1. Keep it Simple!
   • Campus is an exciting location but you can get lost with how many locations you want to go to. That’s okay. I, personally, recommend keeping to God quad (or 1 location) that is easy for them to move on to the reception or transportation when they are done.
2. Limit yourself to how long.
   • This will also depend on how many people are in the bridal party (see next tip), but a good rule of thumb is 30 minutes.
3. Consider quantity over time
   • My sweet spot for that 30 minutes I just mentioned is 6 bridesmaids and 6 groomsmen. If you put into consideration 1-2 full bridal party shots, each individual party member with the bride or groom and then the bride with her girls and the groom with his guys, that will take up about 3 minutes per person (though the individuals tends to pick up the pace slightly). People will naturally be excited and multitasking and if they aren’t the MOH, chances are their attention won’t be on what’s coming next. This is why this tip is so important. Plan for 3 minutes per person that’s in your party.