We are finally back from a long weekend in the North Georgia mountains for our friends’ wedding. Now that the craziness of traveling is over we finally have time to post the wedding escort/place cards that I mentioned a week ago. So please check those out!

I would like to dedicate this blog post to providing some advice for being a Maid of Honor. This was the first wedding I have been involved in so I had a lot to learn, not only about being a bridesmaid but also taking on such a big responsibility as being the Maid of Honor. First and foremost, the most important thing I learned was to make sure your bride, the families, the other members of the bridal party, and yourself are all having a good time throughout the wedding process. What is the point of going through the motions if you are not going to enjoy it?

Secondly the most useful thing you can have on hand while getting ready for/during the wedding is an emergency kit! Mine was scored in an ammo can which had special sentiments to the bridal party in addition to being waterproof and sturdy. Below is a complete list of items I had in my emergency kit and a few comments on their usefulness. I had found a lot of lists online but none of them seemed to be very complete. The one thing we were missing at the wedding that we really needed was burn cream (*sigh* yes, my bride burned herself on the oven while making lunch when my back was turned).

• Bobby pins - always a must for hair prep
• Hair spray
• Touchup makeup
• Clear nail polish
• Tissues
• Baby wipes
• Extra jewelry
• Breath mints
• Nail clippers
• Nail polish remover
• Makeup remover
• Deodorant
• Pain killers - very important
• Antacids
• Band-Aids/first aid kit
• Hand sanitizer
• Water
• Snacks (energy/chocolate)
• Tampons/pads
• Contact lens solution
• Extra contacts
• Allergy medicine
• Q-tips
• Tweezers
• Safety pins
• Needle
• Thread (one for each color of garment)
• Tape
• Umbrellas
• Scissors - Most used item in the kit
• Cash
• Panty hose
• Bleach pen (to cover up stains on the wedding dress)
• Emergency phone numbers
• Chalk/pastels (to cover up stains on the wedding dress)
• White nail polish (to cover up stains on the wedding dress)
• Straws (so you don’t ruin your makeup)
• Static guard
• Walkie Talkies - best idea we had! Best Man had one and I had one so we could communicate but still keep the bride and groom apart
• Liquor (good for the nerves and the breath)

This is a good basic list to start your emergency kit; but know your bride, know your groom, know your bridal party and add to your emergency kit based on their tendencies. If you have a bride that gets hurt a lot, a well stocked first aid kit may not be a bad idea. If a groomsman has weak nerves, an extra shot of vodka may not be a bad idea. Bottom line is, plan for the worse. If you end up not needing an item, awesome, but it is better to have something than to be scrambling around trying to find something when everyone is already stressed out.

Do not wait to prepare your speech. Short and sweet, just get it done and give it time to digest so you are sure you are happy with it. I went for a speech that I knew would make my friend smile, shared a few heart to heart moments, and gave the guests a little glimpse at the couple’s relationship early on. It turned out quite well and actually inspired the Best Man who ended up giving an amazing speech filled with geeky commentary.

When the wedding is all said and done and the bride and groom are off on their honeymoon, it is a wonderful idea to make sure everything is taken care so they will not have to worry. In the case of my friends they were running off to catch a flight at 5:00am the day after they got married. So it was up to me to make sure everything they wanted to keep from the wedding was gathered up and taken back home. Get a list from the bride of everything she wants to keep so that nothing is over looked and don’t forget to pick up the top tier of their cake! If you can, get the dress cleaned, make sure there isn’t any laundry for them to come home to. Any stress that you can take off of the couple is a major win.

The bottom line though is to make sure that you and your friend are having a good time. Weddings are fun and exciting, enjoy the planning, enjoy the preparation, and enjoy the actual event.