Bridesmaids on Duty: How to Help a Friend Getting Married

Written by Katie Colon

This is a guide for bridesmaids to help your bride get ready for the best photos on her wedding day. I am so glad you’re here!

It’s such an honor to be chosen to be a part of the wedding of someone you care about. Being a bridesmaid is something most of us dream about from when we were little girls. The opportunity to be this intimately involved with such an essential day in your friend’s life shouldn’t be wasted either, so be prepared to work hard. 

You may already know about duties like shopping for dresses and shoes, planning and pulling off a great bridal shower, and being a constant source of support. But you need to make sure the day goes off without a hitch too. You can do this by helping the bride get the kind of photographs that she can look back on for many years with pride and happiness.

Before the Wedding

Ensure your friend has fabulous photos by learning how to strike a pose. Read up on how celebs always look camera-ready, practice smiling without getting tired, and take note of your best angles. 

Whispering a word of advice into attendees’ ears before the shutter clicks can go a long way toward ensuring everyone looks great in every photo. No double chins or unflattering angles will find their way into the photos if you’ve done your homework.

• Mark the Bridal Shower Milestone

You and the rest of the bridal party went to the ends of the earth to plan the best bridal shower. Don’t let the memory of its excellence fade. Whether you hire a professional photographer for this pre-wedding event or simply encourage everyone who’s at it to use their mobile phones to capture the moment, make sure there are some good photos to remind you of the fun you had. 

• Memorialize the Getting-Ready-Part-of-the-Day

Give your friend the extra help she needs by ensuring the area where the Getting-Ready photographs are going to be taken is uncluttered. If she’s brought special items that she wants to include in the photographs, keep them organized to help the photographer capture them. 

If the bride wants children and pets in these photos, round them up and keep them entertained. If she doesn’t, make sure they’re nowhere to be seen.

• The Venue In All Its Glory

You’ll probably know the wedding venue like the back of your hand by the time the big day rolls around. All the tables you helped decide on decoration for, the settings you oohed and aahed over, and the flowers for the day will be on display for the first time. Ensure the photographer has easy access to it all and they can get in there before the guests arrive and the good times start rolling. 

During the Wedding

Although you’ll be up at the front of the venue with the bride for the duration of the ceremony, do what you can beforehand to ensure that these important photographs go off without a hitch. 

• The First Moments

Help get the photographer in place to capture the first look and in the moments before the bride sets off down the aisle. You need to be by her side to fluff that dress, make last-minute adjustments to her hair and makeup, and let her glow for the lens. 

• The First Kiss

Along with tackling people blocking the photographer’s view of the bridal pair when the ceremony ends, make sure everything is picture perfect for the newly married couple’s first kiss.
Keep the crowd at bay if necessary, make sure the bride and groom have center stage, and keep an eye on the photographer to see if there’s anything extra they need to get the perfect shot. 

• I Do!

The new couple exiting from the venue after the ceremony is another important photograph that you can help with as a bridesmaid. Do the work beforehand to ensure there’s enough confetti to go around, and ensure that the couple’s exit path is clear and the photographer can get the shot they need. 

At The Reception

You’ve no doubt been chosen as a bridesmaid because you know the bride well. Use your intimate knowledge of her and her family and friends to ensure that only the people she wants are in the photographs she’s going to hang onto. 

If certain people feel excluded, spend time smoothing any ruffled feathers as far as you can so nobody gets their feelings hurt. 

• The First Dance

There’s a good chance that the happy couple is going to be so exhausted, deliriously happy, and overwhelmed that positioning the photographer to get the best shot of their first dance won’t be what they’re thinking about. So making sure that it does becomes a part of your bridesmaid’s duties as well.

Know what song they’ll dance to and inform the photographer beforehand so they have ample opportunity to set themselves up for that magical shot.

• Rounding Up Family for Photographs

Make sure that all the people most important to the bride appear in these photographs and, once again, use your insider knowledge to pair people up properly. Whether it’s her nearest and dearest, a group of her work friends, the wedding party, the in-laws, or some fun group shots, help where you can to make each photo shine. 

This is also a good time to keep an eye out for any lipstick on the bride’s cheek as she’ll certainly be kissed by many well-wishers. And watch out for stray hairs, creases in her dress or smudged mascara. None of these belongs in family photographs either.

• Keeping the Event Drama-Free

Photographers often report that couples prize the shots of their family the most. These photos can, however, be ruined instantly if a family feud is immortalized or that special someone is missing. 

Whatever her family dynamic is like, make sure they’re gathered together and there’s a photo to freeze that moment in time. 

One Last Thing…

Professional wedding photos can take anywhere from four to eight weeks to be ready. While there’s the honeymoon to look forward to, the wait for photos can seem endless! To make the wait more bearable, why not treat the bride to a curated collection of photos taken by you and the rest of the wedding attendees? 

Just about everyone has a phone capable of taking reasonable photos nowadays. An album of casual pictures for the new couple to page through while they wait for the professional photographs can be an incredible gift.