I am fortunate enough to have had the experience of being both a bridesmaid AND a bride!! Both taught me so much about the wedding process. I think it is such an honor to be asked to be somebody’s bridesmaid – I know that when I was planning for my wedding and picking my bridesmaids I wanted them to be someone that I knew I wanted in my life for basically the rest of my life, I knew that they would be caring, had the best in mind for me, would be supportive, and were those that I wanted to celebrate the next milestones of my life with (such as having a baby, raising a family, turning 50, etc).

Having gone through being a bridesmaid and a bride, I wanted to share my own tips on how to be the best bridesmaid…

1. Offering Your Unending Support

Planning a wedding is overwhelming and it’s nice to know that your girls will be there to support you along any step of the process. But please don’t offer any advice that was NOT asked for! There were so many times when people would offer their own opinion on what they thought I should do but I had never asked for it nor did I think their idea was good. It’s best to let the bride know that you are happy to help her with anything whether it’s researching vendors, finding an idea, dealing with unsolicited advice, etc and regularly remind her that you are there for her! She will truly appreciate it.

2. Make Her Feel Loved

In any occasion that is celebrating her whether it’s for the bachelorette party, the bridal shower, etc, shower her with love. Of course, don’t overwhelm her but if you know the way she feels loved show it to her! Some people feel loved by words of affirmation, by presents, by conversation, by touch, etc.

3. Be Prepared to Serve

There’s a reason why the “maid” is in bridesmaid. Haha, but all jokes aside on the day of her wedding be prepared to serve your friend! If she needs water get it for her, if she needs a phone call made make it for her, etc. Basically be prepared to serve her hand and foot because this is the one day in her life where she should truly feel like a princess!

4. Prevent Any Stress On The Day Of

If something is not going right on the day of the wedding; by all means try to figure it out with other members of the wedding party but don’t let the bride stress out about it or even know about the problem if possible. My bridesmaids took all of my calls and any questions directed to me and took care of them all by themselves and allowed me to have such a peaceful and calming morning on the day of my wedding. We had plenty of problems that arose during the day but somehow they were all taken care of without me having to get directly involved and that meant the WORLD to me. Getting married is already such a stressful event and to know that any problems that arise will be taken care of is the biggest relief in the world.

And to end, here are some cute gift ideas that you can give to your bride from Marley Lilly! What better way to celebrate your friend getting married than by gifting her with a personalized gift that will have her new initials!

Monogrammed Wine Holder: I’m going to be a bridesmaid for my friend who absolutely loves wine so this was just the perfect gift for the adventures she’ll have drinking wine with her new husband!

Monogrammed Luggage Tag: When going on a honeymoon, luggage tags are really helpful just for making sure your bag is located quickly AND not taken by anybody else! So of course a monogrammed luggage tag was also a perfect pick.

Monogrammed Necklace: In the South, these monogrammed necklaces are such a huge hit and I wanted my friend to be able to rock her new initials daily if she wanted!

If you’re going to be a bridesmaid make sure to check out Marley Lilly to gift your friend with some amazing monogrammed gifts!