TBS Blog Contributor: Meet Morgan

 Morgan Gray is a writer from New York whose sister recently asked her to be the maid of honor to her wedding. The experience has left Morgan so inspired and all the more knowledgeable on everything wedding planning, which is why we have featured her on The Bridal Solution, as one of our Blogger Bridesmaid Contributors! You can find her on her blog, Gray & Gabbana.

Maid of Honor Tips - Making Her Wedding Stress Free

Wonderful news: I’ve been asked to be my sister’s maid of honor. Am I excited? Of course, couldn’t be more so. But, there is an unbelievably strong desire, within the both of us, to make everything perfect. Read: stress. I believe, however, that this wonderful time doesn’t need to be ridden with so much anxiety. Let me share a few tips on how I helped my sister have the most beautiful wedding possible with as little stress as possible.

Make a List

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Never underestimate the importance of making a list! This is particularly important if the wedding is coming up quick and you don’t have a lot of time. Fortunately, my sister’s wedding is more than nine months away, allowing me more time. Using a 3-ring binder, I made my sister a wedding to-do booklet. The booklet, which consisted of about 25 pages, listed everything that needed to be done, from sending out save-the-date cards and booking venues right to the actual wedding ceremony and reception. Each page had specific details about who pays for what, how far in advance things should be done, etc. If it was part of a wedding, it was in the book. This way we had everything in one place and could easily reference everything to make sure we were on schedule.

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Gift Registries – Gift Giving Made Easy

Gift registries are widely used because it makes gift buying easy for guests, while also ensuring the happy couple are getting what they need and want and not in duplicate. However, making a gift registry can be very time-consuming. My sister has a million other things on her mind and making a gift registry was last on it. Luckily, she and I are close in style and interests so I could take an educated guess at what she wanted and needed in the way of gifts, and she completely trusted me to choose a collection of wedding gifts online as her bridal shower registry. For the wedding registry, I chose her favorite stores, went to their websites and printed out a “mock” registry for my sister’s approval. She added a few items to it, eliminated things she really didn't want and returned it to me for the final draft. In a matter of minutes, she had her gift registries ready for the bridal shower and the wedding.

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Bridal Shower

For years there have been debates as to who makes the bridal shower. Some feel it’s the mothers of the couple, while others think it’s friends of the couple. Why not have the bridal party all pitch in? You, as maid of honor, should be in charge of the shower and direct others as to who does what and when. For my sister’s shower, the entire bridal party (there were eight of us) pitched in so I wouldn’t have the entire financial burden. Family members came to help us decorate and it turned into a beautiful affair. The bridal party sets the tone for the wedding so it’s not something that should be overlooked.

Final Preparations

The one thing we all know is that in even the best–planned events things can go wrong. As maid of honor, it is your responsibility to double check all the little details so your friend doesn’t have to. I took over the task of being the contact person for everyone involved in the wedding (e.g. pastor, caterer, florist, venue, DJ, limousine service). If they had a question, they contacted me. After it was all said and done, my sister told me she appreciated that more than anything else I had done. The only thing I wanted my sister to have to worry about was looking beautiful as she walked down the aisle. Being a maid of honor is no easy task but there was nothing more rewarding than when my sister told me how impossible the wedding would have been if it wasn't for me.

 

 ** all rights of Maid of Honor tips are property of The Bridal Solution and Morgan Grey

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI WEDDING PLANNING | COLUMBIA, MISSOURI EVENT PLANNING | COLUMBIA WEDDING COORDINATION | COLUMBIA, MISSOURI EVENT DESIGN 

Happy Planning!
Natalie Imhoff, CWP

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