Responsibilities of your Wedding Party
Making sure everyone is on the same page and knows their jobs is often the trickiest part of Wedding planning, especially if any of your party members have never been to or in a wedding before!
We found a great page from a wedding planner that lays out the different types of jobs you might expect for each role to give you a starting point.
We're also starting to see many of our couples moving away from the "girls are with the girls and guys are with the guys" mindset that wedding parties traditionally followed. Remember that the roles and jobs go with the bride/groom, not the party member. So, if our bride Jessica has her childhood best friend Robert as a "bridesman," he would follow the same job expectations as the bridesmaids.
Even if you plan on having "no bridal party," you should still consider assigning specific jobs and tasks to people close to you for the wedding day itself. These jobs are meant to take a weight off your shoulders so you can fully experience the day.
Jobs you can assign to specific people
(whether having an official bridal party or not)
Food and Drinks
Put someone in charge of making sure you are eating and drinking (non-alcohol) throughout the day. Each partner should have someone for this.
Hotel Room Assistant
If there is a need for changing of hotel rooms, put someone in charge who can make sure your room is cleaned, set up, and has your belongings, and your belongings only. You don't want to get back to your hotel room after your wedding with your new spouse to a trashed room from prep with a drunk friend banging on the door looking for their phone charger.
Designate a Prep DJ
Make this someone who knows your music preferences and knows what kind of vibe you'll be looking for during prep and getting ready before the ceremony.
People Wrangler
This should be someone who knows how to find any missing family members for family portraits to help speed that up if we're missing anyone. The tricky part here is you want to make sure it's not an existing family member who might be needed for pictures instead of running off to find missing people.
Belongings and Attire Accountability
Put someone in charge of making sure all needed items make it to the prep location/ceremony/reception. Each partner should have someone for this. Make it easier for them by making a physical list on an index card they can reference to make sure all pieces of attire and prep are brought This person may also need to coordinate with the photographers in aiding that all detail items are where they need to be for the lay flat and detail portion of the day.
Charger Master
Put someone in charge of electronic charging equipment! This way your entire group doesn't have to worry about where their charger went or if they need to plug in.
Babysitter
This might be someone you actually hire, or it could be the perfect job for any junior bridesmaids if you have a lot of young children involved in your wedding day. They'll need to be kept busy and entertained to help prevent meltdowns and keep an eye out for potential dangers (i.e. running around near wires and hot curling irons during hair and makeup prep).
Misc Jobs Specific to You
Anything else that may be specific for your wedding. Do you have a family member you want to limit contact with? Assign a wedding party member as a go-between to help pull you away as needed.