So I was MOH for my friend this last weekend, and it was a very big eye-opener. I took copious amounts of mental notes, and figured I'd share
I'm by no way trying to rag on my friend, most of this I actually find funny, but it's stuff to keep in mind
A little extra effort and courtesy go a looooong way. And yes I plan on taking my own advice!! ;D
Procrastination: Waiting until the night before the wedding to do your own music is a bad idea. If you're going the playlist route, have it done a couple days in advance. This would have saved many hours into the wee hours of the morning worth of stress and everyone (translation: us) would have gotten more sleep.
Preparedness: Make a list of projects if you still have any left, if you have to force yourself to work them in, do it. We found out the morning of that a handful of things still hadn't been done and more rushing followed. Not all of it got done and what did didn't have the best presentation.
Grumps: If you know you are one of those people that don't exactly function on a human level in the morning, do everyone including yourself a favor and make sure you have whatever caffeine or pick-you-up in the house before you go to bed. Swing by a store after the RD if you need to. Photos of you being a scowling zombie at the hair salon aren't flattering. But more on hair later
Food: Not everyone eats breakfast. Some people are miserable without it. If you have people staying with you (from out of town for example) and helping out, help them out by having at least a little something quick and portable for them to munch on. It makes them much more likely to put up with your potential crazyness and not want to reach out and smack you
Hair: If you wern't able to do a trail run, know what you want before you go in. Or at least narrow it down a bit, say less than 12 different photos- all different. This way your stylist will know what you want and it'll take less time and you'll actually be happy with the outcome
and you won't be scowling
Flowers: Might not be a bad idea to let your MOH hold your bouquet for a minute before the ceremony. Her's was SO heavy and I wasn't expecting it, I almost dropped it!! I was amazed how solid that thing was!!
Lodging: If you're being generous enough to put people up in your house on an air mattress, keep in mind that without some type of buffer between the mattress and the sheet (like an afgan or other blanket), all the warmth will be drawn out of the (attemping to be) sleeping person. We've learned this camping, apparently the same rule applies even in a heated house. Who would have thought?
Drinks and food: Having something to sip on, doesn't even have to be alcoholic, in the dressing area would be AWESOME. Along with maybe a few light snacks, you know since some of us missed breakfast
Pictures: Pictures take a lot longer than you think they will!
Plan accordingly... dinner may be late. If you're getting hungry or thirsty see if someone can snag you an appitizer and then check your teeth afterward
Or another idea is have someone bring some over to share with your family and party, since they're likely going to miss them all
Dress: Please for the love of Cheese make sure someone knows how to bustle your dress, especially if it's complicated. Like an over AND and under. Where the over involves clear buttons and hidden loops that match the embroidery. Dear god.
If someone offers to help, let them. But PLEASE remember to say thank you. And please doesn't hurt either. Unless my friend was actually handed something (and sometimes not even then), there was no thank you. And there wasn't really any pleases either. The big day is no excuse to forget your manners
And if maybe one of your girls really goes above and beyond and is literally on her knees to help you, let her know how much you appreciate it. It can be a card, a hug, whatever you want. We all got the same gift (which was lovely don't get me wrong) but the other two did absolutly nothing and I didn't really feel appreciated for how much I was doing. A hug and a heartfelt thank you would have made a world of difference, and hey, even that is free! ;D
Keep your phone with you and charged starting the day before (not during the wedding of course though!) The groom wasn't able to answer music questions, the MOB didn't have a way of calling people to coordinate meetings, and the MOH having your parents' phone numbers is pretty slim. it's a basic necessity and not difficult ;p
Getting around: Not everyone can afford a rental car. And some people live in super rural or worse, very complicated areas. I for one plan on picking up a couple packs of my MOH's cigarettes so she doesn't have to attempt to find the best place to get them and end up lost... or like me on Toll roads. I'm sure she'll appreaciate it
along with my girls' favorite caffiene drinks so we won't have to stop anywhere in the morning!
I tend to go out of my way to help out people and I realize not everyone is the same, but these are simple little things that will help you and your girls out and make everything easier leading up to and on the big day
Oh yea, and if you're showing your new house to your friends and family, clean your own darn bathroom. The groom's dad shouldn't ever have to do that
12 more days!! Now I'm off to make my project list and figure out my timeline!!
