just became a maid of honor

vland27

ok im an only child and have been married for 6 years. long story short my SIL just asked me to me her maid of honor in her wedding. its going to be a very small ceremony only myself, my daughters, bride and groom and his brother. i want to make her wedding shower and bachorlet party amazing. she has no sisters, and the last wedding i was in besides my own i was about 5 years old. i would love some suggestions and help with this. thanks in advance !!!! please help

Simply Fated

The only people who should be invited to the shower are people who are invited to the wedding.

So what if you did a Bridal luncheon of some kind with the whole family? Or instead of a bridal shower, offer to host the rehearsal dinner?

And for the bachelorette party, you can take her and your daugthers out for a little spa day or a fun activity you would all enjoy?

AutumnFair

First, congrats on being ask to be Matron of Honor (since your married that is what your title is).

Second, here are some tips:

1. Always plan parties in which you can afford. Everyone would love to give their friends and family the huge bash parties with bells and whistles but we usually can't so don't go overboard, set a budget for how much you may (since all pre-wedding parties are optional and are not required to be thrown by anyone) want to spend.

2. If the Bride has other BMs you can ask if they want to be involve and if they do where they would like to contribute be it food, decor, or just giving money for those things. Once again these parties are not required so don't try to guilt anyone into doing something they don't want to.

3. You mention that the wedding is small. Be very careful, if you are throwing any parties the people you invite MUST be invited to the wedding. So depending on who is invited there may not be enough people to even hold a party, this is one of draw backs of having a very small wedding, the Bride should know this (if not send her to theknot boards).

4. You can always ask the Bride some things she might like to do for her Bachelorette party but don't be afraid to speak up if something is too expensive for you (same goes for your BM/MOH dress).

5. Have fun and come here if you need specific advice on what activities or ideas you may need help with.

jcamm11

I wish I could re-do my sister's bridal shower.  She thought you could only invite close family, so our guest list was like 9 people, and they were mostly 50+.  We did a drawing for 1 prize, but no games other than that.  Sort of a failure, but the food was good/plentiful, and chit chat was fun.

so yea, I guess the lesson here is have some games.

i2012do

Congrats! And I am amazed how excited you are. There is sometimes such a negative vibe around bridesmaids hating to wear another "ugly" dress or having to be a part and spend so much money-- so its nice to hear the other side of it!

Just ask for her opinion and see what kind of style/theme she is going for with the events. Ask if there are special requests she might have.

Maybe the perfect bachelorette is just you and her best friend going away for a night and girl talking and having wine! Or its a day with your daughters- getting manis and pedis... anything really. Maybe its just a night with you having a nice dinner just to talk...

As for the shower- I think the best resource is her and her mom, take a look at the guest list. Think of  a fun/creative party.

There are so many great pics and ideas on these boards- -check out the pictures pages, and be sure to scoop out online.

Basically, since this will likely be a real bonding experience for the two of you-- then make it really special and oriented towards her likes.
I think that she is super lucky to have someone so thrilled to celebrate with her!