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The Forgotten Roles of Bridal Party Members

When it comes to planning a wedding, the bridal party plays a significant role in ensuring that everything runs smoothly. As a wedding photographer in Adelaide, I have had the privilege of working with many bridal parties and have witnessed first-hand how important their contributions can be.

Traditionally, the roles of bridal party members were dictated by their titles, such as best man or matron of honour. However, their responsibilities have evolved over time, with modern-day expectations including acting as a support system for the bride to work through her emotions. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the different roles of bridal party members and how they can make a difference on the big day.

Bridal party standing near gum trees

What are the different roles of bridal party members?

Maid or Matron of honour

First things first, these two titles are not interchangeable, the ‘head bridesmaid’ or the bridesmaid who stands next to the bride is chosen by the bride to help out in any way possible leading up to and during the wedding day. She would be the ‘Maid’ of honour if she was to be unmarried, or ‘Matron’ of honour if she is.

Alternatively if you chose to have a man as your main ‘helper’ then he would be known as the ‘Man of honour’. This person should be someone you have the utmost trust in as they are often tasked with helping plan much of your wedding day and making sure the bride is emotionally in the right place to go through with the marriage ceremony. They are also usually asked to give a speech at the wedding reception, sign the registry and holding the bride’s bouquet during the ceremony.

Maid of honour toast

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids can be seen as assistants of the Maid or Matron of honour when considering the roles of bridal party members. They are there to flank the bride and look stunning, but never better looking than the bride 🙂 As I stated earlier their main role is to act as emotional support for the bride to help her through her day. They also help out with putting on the bridal gown and usually are called upon to dance with the grooms men after the first dance.

Bridal party helping with dress

The Best Man

The history of the Best man does not really paint a picture of what the best man does at today’s weddings. The best man’s role at modern weddings is very similar to the Maid, or Matron of honour, whereby they are to keep the groom calm and collected before the wedding ceremony, but also traditionally is the keeper of the wedding bands, without which there would be no symbolic representation of the bride and groom becoming man and wife.

As such, out of all the roles of bridal party members, his could be seen as symbolically the most important of the lot. The best man is usually one of the groom’s best friends whom he trusts above all others as often they are also in charge of organising rowdy bucks nights where its tradition for the groom to be kind of ‘taken for a ride’ of the last moments of being a bachelor. The best man is always asked to give a speech at the wedding reception and is traditional for that speech to be quite funny, making fun of the groom and complementing the bride.

Groom and best man walking down hill

Grooms men

Typically, grooms men are more friends of the groom, there as the bridesmaids are to offer emotional support. Before the wedding the grooms men usually help pay for the bachelor party and usually will be behind the ‘decorating’ of the get away car at the end of the night. During the ceremony the grooms men would be tasked with seating all the guests before the bride arrives and will also be called upon to dance with the bridesmaids during the reception.

The boys getting ready

Junior Grooms men or Bridesmaids

Generally children ranging from 9 to 16 years old, the junior grooms men or bridesmaids are generally relations to the bride and groom whom are important enough to stand with the others at the ceremony. Usually they are not given any particular role other than looking cute or dapper in their miniature versions of their suit or gown. These members of the bridal party are usually separate to page boys and flower girls.

bride with flower girl in vineyard

Flower Girl

Of all the the roles of bridal party, the flower girl is often seen as the one role that steals focus from the bride, as generally the flower girl is dressed up like a tiny princess and can be very cute running down the aisle in front of the bridal party at the beginning of the ceremony. Her role is to embellish the aisle that the bride will soon walk down with flower petals, hence the name ‘flower girl.

Flower girl walking down aisle

Page boy / Ring bearer

The name ‘page boy’ is taken from the medieval rank of ‘page’ or a knight in training. Usually boys the same age as the flower girl, the page boy can be tasked with carrying the wedding rings instead of the best man, however due to the young age of many page boys, their parents or the best man are often close by keeping an eye on them.

Page boy handing over rings

Mother of the bride

The mother of the bride is usually right there amongst it all when it comes to preparing for the wedding. It’s not at all uncommon for the Mother of the Bride to have her daughter’s wedding plan all sorted by the time they even begin high school and will often start saving for it by then also. The Mother of the bride will also be a huge source of emotional help along with the bridesmaids and will often also help out with details such as bombonieres and choosing of dresses.

Mother of bride grinning

Father of the bride

In an ultra traditional setting, the father of the bride would be called upon to finance the wedding. However, in modern times it’s usually a task for the entire family to pay for the (rather large) cost of a wedding. The father of the bride’s primary role at a wedding is to ‘give the bride away’ at the beginning of the ceremony by walking her down the aisle, also giving a speech at the reception and dancing with the bride.

Father of the bride looking at his daughter

Mother and Father of the groom

The Mother and Father of the groom’s main task is to make sure her son looks the part at the wedding ceremony. Making sure his tie is set correctly, placing the flowers correctly on his lapel and helping out putting on cufflinks. All things grooms and their grooms men have trouble with in my experience as a wedding photographer. Their other roles would include mingling with guests at the wedding, and making sure everything is running smoothly.

Parents looking on at groom

Officiant / Celebrant

Also known as any number of religious titles, such as ‘priest’, ‘father’, ‘padre’ if it’s a religious wedding as is tradition. Of all the roles of bridal party members, perhaps this one shouldn’t really be there, as the Officiant of the wedding is really only a service provider paid for by the couple, and not part of the bridal party at all. However, they do have a big part top play in the wedding… obviously.

They run the wedding ceremony, sort out the procession order and help with writing vows. They will also assist the couple to sign the marriage certificate and help with all the paperwork to make it legal.

Bride and Groom

Ushers

Usually friends, or distant relatives of the bride and groom, of the roles of the bridal p

Champaigne with bridal party

Champaigne with bridal party

arty, the ushers may well be the most short lived. They will often stand out the front of the ceremony location, most commonly a church, and hand out programs or pamphlets to guests as they arrive. Often also handing out items to throw over the departing bride and groom at the end, such as flower petals or bubble makers.

Celebrating bridal party

Hopefully this list detailing the different roles of bridal party members helps you decide who would be best suited to fill these roles at your wedding, or to fill you in on your own duties! 🙂

The roles of bridal party members are significant in ensuring a successful wedding ceremony and reception. From the maid of honor to the best man, each member has a unique responsibility in making sure that the day runs smoothly and the bride and groom are well taken care of. Understanding these roles and communicating them clearly to each member is essential in preventing misunderstandings and ensuring that everyone is on the same page.

By working together as a team, the bridal party can make the couple’s special day an unforgettable experience for everyone involved.

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Wedding ring photography

The beginning of my day covering a wedding as a wedding photographer usually sees me at the location where the groom and his grooms men are being prepared and getting dressed in order to get the wedding ceremony. As a result I’m usually asking for the wedding ring to do a bit of wedding ring photography. Doing the wedding ring photography and other product shots affects such as the shoes, or any jewellery like cuff links, and wearables like ties and suit jackets I like to treat as a bit of a warm up for the day for both myself and for the boys, who may not be overly comfortable with a photographer constantly taking photos of them during the day.

It’s usually the case that this sort of photogrpahy requires specialised lenses and photographic equipment that may or may not be common place in a wedding photographer’s kit – but to do the best work, you need the best camera and lenses for product photography.

Wedding ring photography

The goal is really to show any details of the ring or rings while having some sort of a background that speaks to the type of person the groom is. It’s traditional at a wedding for the groom and his best man to look after the rings so I feel having something like his tie, or cuff links, even the flowers he’s wearing on the day as a background really helps portray this personal aspect of the wedding rings.

Wedding rings
wedding rings
Wedding Rings
Wedding rings
Wedding Rings
Wedding rings
Wedding rings

It is however coming more and more popular for the bride and her entourage to look after the rings, I’m thinking trust is the defining factor here? 🙂 When this is the case, the rings are often placed nearby flowers, or clothing such as the wedding dress. This is again to show a bit of personality behind the photograph. It’s also quite common to find them tied onto the page boy’s cushion, ready to be presented during the wedding ceremony.

Wedding rings
Wedding rings
Adelaide wedding photographer
Wedding rings
wedding rings
Wedding Rings
Wedding rings

This being said however, wedding rings are usually very personal items to begin with, so there is a certain charm to wedding ring photography where the background is as plain as possible. I usually try to find a nice clean hardwood surface to produce these types of photos, as the grain fades away in the natural bokeh of my lens in a very satisfying way.

Wedding rings
Wedding rings
Wedding rings
Wedding rings

Wedding ring photography, I feel is one of the important photographs I must capture on a wedding day as they signify the never ending union of the wedded couple, and as I’m there to capture all the emotion and joy on this most special of days, I figure the wedding rings should also play a major role in those memories! 🙂

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Bomboniere ideas for your wedding

Bomboniere gifts, or ‘favours’ to your guests on a wedding day have become quite common place over the years, however it’s usually a bit of a task to find bomboniere ideas that really speak about who you are as a couple and that your guests might actually want. As a wedding photographer I’m in a great position to get to experience weddings of all sorts, of couples of all different personalities, so I get to see a whole heap of different bomboniere ideas. I thought it might be helpful if I gave you a bit of a list of the more unique, or practical I’ve seen.

bomboniere ideas

What is a Bomboniere?

But first, a bit of history behind the idea of bomboniere gifts. The practice of giving bomboniere dates right back to 14th century Italy, when the families of engaged couples swapped small packages filled with sweets as a sign of good fortune. Over time, those horrible sugar-coated almonds became the preferred choice of sweets and are pretty much now the staple of Australian bomboniere gifts… unfortunately. Hopefully this list will give you other ideas! 🙂

Bomboniere ideas

Lolly Bar

This idea I’ve seen a few times at weddings I’ve covered. The idea is that your guests are given a small bag or basket of some description in order to fill up themselves with a selection of sweets. It’s also there to augment your menu during the reception of course 🙂

bomboniere bar

Bridal party deck of cards

This one can be fun, how about printing off a deck of cards featuring an image of the bride and groom, along with their entourage as King, queen, Jack, etc? Doing this is surprisingly cost effective when done on the scale needed for wedding favours, and you can literally personalise it with yourself!

Home made sauce or Jam

I often mention this to new wedding photography clients as an idea to get the older members of your family involved in your wedding day. It’s common to have members of the family who might want to be involved with your wedding, but cant for whatever reason. Why not let them sort out your bomboniere gifts with their cooking skills? This is right up there with the lolly bar in terms of how often I see this at weddings.

Home made jam

A scratchy lottery ticket

While perhaps not the most personal of bomboniere ideas, an instant win lottery ticket would be very cost effective (or expensive, depending on how much you want to spend) and can create a sense of excitement and even delirious joy in the off chance someone strikes it lucky! Could even double as a last minute gift for your guests to give back to you via your wishing well.

A picture frame

If you happen to have a photo booth at your wedding reception, and if it’s like the SvenStudios photo booth, that prints proper sizes prints for your guests to keep, why not keep them in style with their own photo frame?

photo frame

Polaroids

As a bit of a segway from the photo frames, perhaps have a few polaroid instant cameras floating about your reception? your guests can pick one up and create their own little keepsake from your wedding.

Individual caricatures

Or how about even having a cartoon artist wandering about drawing everyone? This bomboniere ideas as it always makes people smile and how awesome is having a piece of art to take home from your wedding?

Wedding Reception Keepsake SketchArtist

Lego minifigs or small toys

For the child in all of us, a recent wedding I was a photographer at had little bags of toys for every guest, and included were lego minifigs. Both young and old had a blast opening their little lego man and spending time building them while waiting for their entrée to arrive. By the end of the night, every table had a small army of little men running about. It was pretty awesome… Because everything is awesome.

Lego

Selecting the perfect bomboniere for your special occasion can be a daunting task, but with a little creativity and thoughtfulness, you can create a meaningful and memorable gift for your guests.

Whether you choose to go with a classic favor or a more personalized option, the key is to keep your guests in mind and choose something that reflects the overall theme and style of your event. With these bomboniere ideas and tips, you can make sure that your guests leave with a special token of appreciation that will be treasured for years to come.

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Bridal bouquet designs

Closeup of bridal bouquet

There is nothing more synonymous with weddings than the bridal bouquet. The bridal bouquet are the flowers the bride walks down the aisle with, to meet her groom. They are in nearly every photo taken on the day by their wedding photographer and they usually reflect some of the personality of the bride herself. Be it the colours, style, even what the flowers are made of, they all speak of the choices and effort the bride has put into planning the wedding day.

Some brides might follow trends in colours, such as the yearly fashionable pantone colour sets that are released each year. Or perhaps they will hop on pintrest to find the most unique style of bridal bouquet available. Perhaps still they might ask a florest for help. In any case, as a wedding photographer I have seen a vast array of different ideas and styles of bridal bouquet you may consider for your own wedding.

Bridal bouquet ideas

Origami paper flowers

Harry Potter Wedding Bouquet
Harry Potter bouquet

One common comment I hear on wedding days are how heavy bridal bouquets often are, they can get very heavy when using real flowers, as they can be quite large in size they hold a lot of water within their stems. It’s also a costly fact, as many brides opt for having a special ‘throwing’ bouquet made so they can throw it during their reception and not hurt anyone. One cunning solution to this I saw at Michaela and Paddy’s wedding where they had a bit of a Harry Potter theme going on, so she made her bridal bouquet out of pages from the Harry Potter books. This allowed for a very light, and easy to carry (and throw) bouquet.

Native flora

Bridal Party
Bride with bridal bouquet

Native Australian flora is not something many people think of when designing their bouquet. There’s not usually a lot of different colours, nor big bushy flowers to add, such as roses and more traditional flowers. But when designing a wedding around a more rustic theme, incorporating aspects such as heshen and more rustic decorations, native flora really works well. Tessa and Robbie’s wedding really put this together well.

Beads

Bridal preparation
Wedding

Having your bridal bouquet made out of anything other than flowers may seem a little odd until you see the effect it can have on your day. Bek’s bouquet was absolutely unique to her own personality and tastes. Made to compliment their wedding colours Bek’s hand-made creation gave a bit of sparkle and personality to what would otherwise be just another bunch of flowers held by a bride. The great thing about them are that they’d last forever! Very heavy though, so I wouldn’t recommend throwing one!

Draping flowers

Bridal party
Wedding bouquet

By ‘draping’ flowers I mean the bottom of the flower arrangement droops towards the ground, creating a rather nice train-like effect kind of mirroring what a bridal gown might do. Danielle’s bridal bouquet was carefully designed and colour selected to compliment both her own and her bridal party’s gowns. You can see the upside down tear drop of a shape the trailing flowers make towards the bottom of the arrangement. It’s all very elegant and works perfectly with a more traditional style wedding.

Artificial with jewels

Bride and groom under gum tree
Bridal bouquet

The great advantage of having artificial flowers in your bridal bouquet is that you’re able to decorate them however you’d like! As was the case at Monika & Craig’s wedding, where Monkia had her bouquet studded with little gems at the centre of each artificial flower. She was also able to have her flower arrangement small and easy to carry around with her all day as they were as light as a feather.

Local Wildflowers

Bridal party
Engagement ring

As with the Native fauna idea above, the local windflowers in display at Belinda and Jono’s wedding really made their native glamour photos stand out, and add a bit of natural green to their overall wedding theme. I like to think that Jono ran about in the early hours of the morning to pick them all for the girls, but I’m sure that diddn’t happen 😀

There are plenty of other ideas out there for your bridal bouquets, I just figured I’d put together some of the more novel designs I’ve come across in my years as a professional Adelaide wedding photographer!