Congratulations on getting engaged! What a huge moment in your life! Now it’s time to begin the process of wedding planning. You need to find yourself the perfect wedding venue, select your band or DJ, find the right catering service, and of course, choose the right maid of honor to be your sidekick. But who do you choose? No matter what special person you decide on, there are some definite traits that your maid of honor should have. Take a look at our list below.
She Should Be Responsible
Because there are quite a lot of responsibilities for a maid of honor, you’ll want to ensure that the person you ask is someone that you can count on to be organized and punctual. The last thing you want is for your maid of honor to consistently be late and forgetful.
Make sure the person you choose has a good track record of responsibility. Also, make sure that you’re honest and up front with her about your expectations. She needs to know the exact duties that she is taking on when she accepts the role.
If she has never been a maid of honor before, she may legitimately not understand all of the responsibilities that come with it. In the interest of limiting everyone’s headaches, you should let her know the expectations you have (although make sure you don’t sound too bossy when doing this!).
Family Is Always A Good Choice
Make sure that you have a great connection and feel close with who you select. That is arguably one of the most important things when it comes to choosing your maid of honor.
If you have a few candidates that are all equal but one of them happens to be a sister or a family member, odds are they will be your best choice.
They will be likely to know you better than everyone else, and a sister will go the extra mile for you when you really need it.
She Should Have A “Type A” Personality
If you’ve never heard of “Type A” or “Type B” personalities, here’s what it means:
A Type A personality is someone who is proactive, organized, outgoing, and ambitious. Type B is someone who generally works at lower stress levels than Type A.
For the purposes of a maid of honor, you’ll want someone who is outgoing and ready to take on new tasks consistently.
She Shouldn’t Mind A Little Spotlight
Your maid of honor should be someone who isn’t afraid to be in the spotlight.
She needs to be comfortable addressing a group of people, requesting things from the wedding planner or other people if she’s asked to, and organizing events with people she may not be familiar with. Shyness is not a great quality in a maid of honor.
She Should Have Good Taste
During the wedding planning process, you’re going to want the opinions of a select few when it comes to things such as your dress, the catering, the decorations, flowers, and so on.
Your maid of honor should be one of the people that you can ask. This means that she should have good taste and judgment when you ask for her opinion.
She Should Know Most Of Your Wedding Party
Try to choose someone who knows most of your wedding party. Why? Because she will likely have to address everyone at some point, as well as coordinate things.
If your maid of honor doesn’t know anyone else in the wedding party, she may feel reluctant to tell them what to do for fear of coming off as bossy.
She Should Live Close By
If it’s at all possible, select a maid of honor who lives close to you—at least within the same state.
You’ll be counting on her for a lot of responsibilities, and if she lives too far away, she won’t be able to do most of what you’ll need her to.
Your maid of honor should be able to assist you with wedding planning at the drop of a hat, whether that means checking out a wedding venue, helping you shop for your wedding dress, choosing your color palette with you, or anything else.
She Better Not Cause Drama!
We all have a good friend that we adore, but tends to cause a little extra drama sometimes.
It’s okay. You can still love her, but she might not be the best candidate for maid of honor. If at all possible, choose a level-headed individual who is easygoing, patient, and mature enough to deflect drama.
Wedding planning is stressful enough without members of your wedding party at each other’s throats.
She Should Be Good At Delegating
Part of being maid of honor is taking control of the bridal party whenever necessary.
This means you’ll need to choose someone who doesn’t have a problem delegating responsibilities to the other bridesmaids. She’ll need to be confident when it comes to voicing her opinion, while at the same time doing so in a respectful way.
This person will need to effectively communicate and organize things with the bridesmaids to ensure that they go as smoothly as possible throughout the entire planning process and on your wedding day.
Hopefully this will help guide you to the perfect maid of honor for your wedding!