Ideas For How to Ask Your Friends to Be Bridesmaids
What would a wedding be without the bride’s dearest friends there to share it with her? Asking someone to be a bridesmaid in your wedding is a big honor, and it can be fun to make it a special moment. These are some fun ideas for how to ask your friends to be bridesmaids in your wedding.
First, a quick piece of wedding advice: do not invite anyone (other than maybe your sisters) to be in your bridal party until about nine months before the wedding date. Many a bride has invited friends to be bridesmaids the minute she gets engaged, only to realize as the wedding draws near that she is no longer as close with one of them. Since you can’t kick a bridesmaid out of your wedding party, waiting a little while is a very good piece of wedding advice which will save you hassles down the road.
The simplest way to ask a friend to be in your wedding is simply to call her up and do it. This works if your pal lives far away; it is nicer to do it in person for local friends. A simple statement like “It would mean so much to me if you would be one of my bridesmaids.” should do the trick. Another nice option for long-distance friends is to send them a card or letter. It can be anything from a sappy handwritten letter reminiscing over your friendship to a funny card showing your friend’s face photoshopped onto a hideous 1970s bridesmaid dress. You know your friends best, so do what makes the most sense for your relationship and their taste.
Edible bridesmaid invitations are very popular. One cute idea is to have large frosted sugar cookies made in the shape of ladies. Have the dresses frosted on in your wedding colors. Some brides even go so far as to customize the frosting dress in the style they envision, such as one shoulder or strapless. You can make the cookies yourself or have a local bakery make them for you. Either way it won’t be very expensive, since the average wedding only has five bridesmaids in it. If all of your friends live nearby, another option is to make a very large cookie or a sheet cake and pipe the question “Will you be my bridesmaids?” onto it in frosting. Make a party out of it, with champagne for toasting and plenty of tissues for wiping away the happy tears.
If you wish to make very personal bridesmaid invitations, it can be fun to put together a scrapbook filled with your shared memories. This would be particularly nice for your maid of honor, or if you have been friends with your bridesmaids for a very long time. Be sure to put in all the silly pictures of the two of you wearing hairstyles of the past! Include little messages and other images to stir up memories, and then put in a note on the last page of the scrapbook asking them to be in your wedding party. Who could say no to such a thoughtful and personal invitation?
One final piece of wedding advice: if for any reason one of the women you ask to be a bridesmaid declines your invitation, try not to be too offended, but do try to find out her reason. It might be that she cannot afford the expense of buying the dress and bridesmaid jewelry, in which case you could discreetly offer to purchase them for her. Or maybe you will learn that she is just too busy with school or work, and fears she would let you down. In that instance, you could offer your friend a less time-consuming position of honor, such as ceremony reader. Ultimately, though, you can probably expect the women you ask to be your bridesmaids to be thrilled to share in your wedding with you.
Bridget Mora has written hundreds of articles for Silverland Jewelry with wedding advice for brides. Read more of Bridget’s helpful wedding planning tips in this exclusive series of wedding advice and planning books.
