Agreeing to be a friend or relative’s bridesmaid or groomsman (or even bridesman or groomsmaid – anything is possible now) is a wonderful honor, but it can get expensive. Here’s how sensitive brides or grooms help make their attendants’ experience joyful without being painful.
- Skip the destination wedding. It’s one thing to ask your friends to drive a few minutes to your shower, bachelor party, rehearsal or wedding. It’s quite another to make them fly there, book a hotel and rental car, and spend a fortune on restaurant meals. A destination wedding can be cost-prohibitive for all but your wealthiest friends.
- Give your attendants wardrobe flexibility. Instead of choosing identical bridesmaid gowns, many brides now work with department stores that offer several different fashions in a single color scheme. You choose the color, and each bridesmaid can choose which gown in that color looks best on her, and best fits her budget. To make your bridesmaids’ choice even more budget friendly, just choose a primary color and ask them to shop for their own formal or semi-formal dress in that color. Shopping off the rack typically saves the high cost of alterations.
- Don’t go crazy on the shoes. Choose a common shoe color for all attendants, then let them pick shoes that they’ll be able to wear after the wedding is over.
- Let your attendants do their own hair and makeup. You don’t all have to look like identical China dolls at the altar. And sparing them the expense of a professional stylist will be most appreciated. Plus, each attendant already knows how to make herself look the way she wants to look. A stylist would have to guess. Of course, if you’re in a position to pay for all of their styling, then the sky’s the limit.
- Buy your attendants’ accessories for them. Whether it’s jewelry, matching hair clips, tiaras, cufflinks, tie bars or what not, it’s easier and more cost-efficient for you to simply buy all of the accessories, rather than make each attendant chase them down and shell out his or her own cash for them.
- Can Mom and Dad pay for your shower? If one of your attendants offers to throw you a bridal shower, that’s great. But a shower can get expensive, depending upon where it’s held. If your parents can pony up the money, it’ll take the burden off your attendants.
- Turn your bachelorette party into a sleepover. No need to jet off to Paris for a week-long fling. Something simple and personal can be a great bonding experience, and it won’t cost a fortune.
Your attendants will have assigned duties during your wedding week. Some may help arrange transportation. Others may help reconfirm all the arrangements with your vendors. Still others may help with the décor. Anything you can do for your attendants to keep their costs down will pay many dividends.
© Fourth Estate Audio, 2017 – Jay Congdon is president of Fourth Estate Audio, a professional Chicago DJ and Chicago Wedding DJ company.
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