These days it is very common for a bridal party to be scattered all over the country.
It can make it a bit trickier to make plans when your bridesmaids are not in one place, but it certainly can be done.
These tips on managing out-of-town bridesmaids will make life easier for everyone.
The first thing to do is introduce all your bridesmaids to one another by email if they are not already all friends.
All the attendants need to have email and phone contacts for each other so they can coordinate things as needed.
As you get busy planning your wedding, you will be very happy not to be the go-between for your wedding party.
Make sure that everyone knows which bridesmaid is your maid of honor, and let her take the lead for keeping the bridal party organized as much as possible.
In fact, if you are deciding between a couple of good friends to be your maid of honor, you would do well to factor in how organized each woman is.
A reliable honor attendant will be worth her weight in gold.
Selecting the bridesmaid dresses is often the most challenging aspect of having out-of-town bridesmaids.
It just won't be practical to get everyone together to shop for bridesmaid jewelry and dresses.
If you think about it, however, it might not be an entirely bad thing, given how hard it is to get a group of bridesmaids to agree on the same dress.
What generally works the best is for the bride to go shopping with whatever bridesmaids live locally.
Together they can choose a dress that will hopefully suit the needs of all the ladies.
It is important to know for special orders, the entire group of dresses needs to be ordered as one batch so they are made from the same dye lot of fabric.
Each woman can go to a tailor or bridal store in her hometown to get her measurements taken, and those can be conveyed to the person in charge of the order.
Generally it is most convenient to do this at the store nearest the bride.
Another important part of keeping your bridal party organized is to give them very clear deadlines.
For instance, if everyone needs to order their dresses together, it will create huge problems if one attendant is holding up the entire group.
Be very clear with everyone about when the bridesmaid dress deposits must be placed to avoid this situation.
This is where having a good maid of honor can really pay off.
It is no fun for the bride to spend her time harassing delinquent attendants, and it is great if the maid of honor can be the one to keep everyone on track.
The bride also needs to make sure that her bridesmaids have plenty of advance notice about things like booking airfare and reserving hotel rooms.
As for things like bridal showers, it is not up to the bride to plan her own parties.
Whomever decides to host a shower should invite all of the bridesmaids no matter where they live, with the understanding that no one will be upset if they are unable to fly in for the party.
Do make sure that your bridal party knows the timing for your wedding weekend, including the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, so they arrive in town plenty early.
Many brides like to host a ladies' luncheon the day before the rehearsal for a chance to thank her bridesmaids and to give them their bridesmaid jewelry gifts.
It takes a bit of extra effort to organize a far flung group of bridesmaids, but it will be worth it to be surrounded by your best friends on your wedding day.
It can make it a bit trickier to make plans when your bridesmaids are not in one place, but it certainly can be done.
These tips on managing out-of-town bridesmaids will make life easier for everyone.
The first thing to do is introduce all your bridesmaids to one another by email if they are not already all friends.
All the attendants need to have email and phone contacts for each other so they can coordinate things as needed.
As you get busy planning your wedding, you will be very happy not to be the go-between for your wedding party.
Make sure that everyone knows which bridesmaid is your maid of honor, and let her take the lead for keeping the bridal party organized as much as possible.
In fact, if you are deciding between a couple of good friends to be your maid of honor, you would do well to factor in how organized each woman is.
A reliable honor attendant will be worth her weight in gold.
Selecting the bridesmaid dresses is often the most challenging aspect of having out-of-town bridesmaids.
It just won't be practical to get everyone together to shop for bridesmaid jewelry and dresses.
If you think about it, however, it might not be an entirely bad thing, given how hard it is to get a group of bridesmaids to agree on the same dress.
What generally works the best is for the bride to go shopping with whatever bridesmaids live locally.
Together they can choose a dress that will hopefully suit the needs of all the ladies.
It is important to know for special orders, the entire group of dresses needs to be ordered as one batch so they are made from the same dye lot of fabric.
Each woman can go to a tailor or bridal store in her hometown to get her measurements taken, and those can be conveyed to the person in charge of the order.
Generally it is most convenient to do this at the store nearest the bride.
Another important part of keeping your bridal party organized is to give them very clear deadlines.
For instance, if everyone needs to order their dresses together, it will create huge problems if one attendant is holding up the entire group.
Be very clear with everyone about when the bridesmaid dress deposits must be placed to avoid this situation.
This is where having a good maid of honor can really pay off.
It is no fun for the bride to spend her time harassing delinquent attendants, and it is great if the maid of honor can be the one to keep everyone on track.
The bride also needs to make sure that her bridesmaids have plenty of advance notice about things like booking airfare and reserving hotel rooms.
As for things like bridal showers, it is not up to the bride to plan her own parties.
Whomever decides to host a shower should invite all of the bridesmaids no matter where they live, with the understanding that no one will be upset if they are unable to fly in for the party.
Do make sure that your bridal party knows the timing for your wedding weekend, including the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, so they arrive in town plenty early.
Many brides like to host a ladies' luncheon the day before the rehearsal for a chance to thank her bridesmaids and to give them their bridesmaid jewelry gifts.
It takes a bit of extra effort to organize a far flung group of bridesmaids, but it will be worth it to be surrounded by your best friends on your wedding day.