Who is in charge of what? Traditional Wedding Planning Responsibilities

wedding-planning-responsiblities

When it comes to planning your wedding, things can get a little stressful.  Some couples happily plan their whole wedding together, while some grooms leave the planning to the Bride.  If you’re not hiring a wedding planner, you will be organizing and arranging everything yourselves, from the transport to the honeymoon!

Need help organizing your wedding party?  Keep reading for advice…

The money talk – it may be uncomfortable but it needs to be done!

Once you are engaged and have announced your upcoming marriage to your friends and family, you’ll want to get straight into all of the fun parts of planning a wedding.  It is important before anything else is arranged to sit down as a couple and discuss your wedding budget.  If your parents are contributing towards the wedding, have the money talk early on so that you can continue with the rest of your wedding planning.

Wedding planning that can be done as a couple

It is highly recommended that you both as a couple choose the all-important parts of your wedding, including but not limited to your wedding venue, date of your upcoming wedding and of course your guest list!  You will also need to arrange for a registrar and visit your local registry office to give notice of marriage.  Other smaller tasks which can also be completed together include designing or choosing your save-the-date and wedding invitations, purchase thank you gifts for your parents and organize thank you cards for after your wedding.

Although it is tradition for the Bride to organize and hire wedding entertainment, we would recommend choosing it together.  We make it really easy to take care of this part of your wedding planning by using our website where you can source wedding bands, wedding DJ’s and other entertainment, such as Close-Up Magicians!

Wedding responsibilities for the Bride to be

If you are planning your wedding traditionally, the Bride is in charge of a number of important tasks.  The first important task for any Bride is to choose her wedding dress and accessories, such as jewellery and veil.  This is traditionally kept as a surprise for the Groom.  Booking a hair stylist and make-up artist is another personal choice which is usually organised by the bride (with advice from her bridal party!).  Other wedding suppliers that are booked by the Bride include caterers and the wedding cake designer.

A Bride should purchase gifts for her bridal party and the Groom’s wedding ring (this can be chosen together of course!)

Although it is traditional for the Bride to be to book the photographer (and videographer if you are having one), we highly recommend choosing one together as you will be spending a whole day with your chosen photographer so you both need to get on with him or her as a couple.

What is the Groom responsible for during wedding planning?

The Groom usually has less responsibilities when it comes to booking wedding suppliers, however he will need to find and source his and his Groomsmen’s complete wedding attire.  Purchasing the Bride’s wedding ring is also high priority along with a gift for the wedding day.  The main responsibility that a Groom has is to book the honeymoon for after the big day!  It is worthwhile discussing locations and resorts as a couple before it is booked! It is also tradition for a Groom to pay for his Bride’s wedding bouquet and flowers for the bridal party.   Once all of the planning has been completely, a Groom will also need to write his speech for during the wedding breakfast!

Maid of Honour and Bridesmaid’s wedding planning responsibilities

Although the Maid of Honour and Bridesmaids don’t plan any of the main parts of the wedding, they do usually assist the bride in choosing her wedding dress and accessories (unless she has decided to keep it as a surprise from them too).  Helping to choose the bridesmaids dresses is also priority for the Bridesmaids and of course the tradition of organising a hen party!

What tasks do the best man and Groomsmen have to take care of?

The best man and Groomsmen are usually also involved with choosing the wedding attire, including suits with the Groom.  Generally they have less involvement with wedding planning, but one of their main responsibilities is to organize the stag / batchelor party!  Writing speeches for the wedding breakfast is another task for the Best Man too!

We hope this article has helped you to distinguish who is traditionally responsible for various parts of your wedding planning, but this is just a guide and many couples are opting for less traditional wedding planning methods! Happy planning!

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