Bridal Party roles

Most of these sound like paid positions, not bridal party roles.

Not sure how the top portion of my post got deleted but hopefully people read the comments to see my initial question here.


I was asking what roles your bridal party members have helped you out with that turned out to be invaluable to you. These are some of the ones I’ve seen on various wedding sites or heard on podcasts.

I had mine at the sign in table to help guide people to their seats because we had some older folk who didn’t speak English

View Quoted Comment Luckily we do have a planner at the reception venue who may be able to help with some of these, but I’m not sure who we could pay to tell our photographer who is who 🤣

My bridal party members had no roles except to show up, on time, with their outfits and stand next to me during the ceremony and be a part of photos. Our DOC took care of all the things you listed above. I gave my photographer a list of who is who for photo purposes, so that was a non-issue. I did give my best friend’s (she was a BM) phone number to our DOC, just in case she was unable to get ahold of me while we were all getting ready.

My bridal party didn’t help with anything besides hanging out with me and trying to keep me relaxed on the day of the wedding! As far as photos I gave my photographer a grouping list before the wedding and she called out names from that list for photos. We didn’t let anyone wander during photo so there was no need to wrangle anyone.

Hire the help you need. Do not ask your loved ones to work your wedding.

My moh helped with photos but I did most of those things, my groomsmen and husband took their own tuxes back, I was the transportation communicator and the day of contact although none of that was really needed. My venue contact gave out the tips although I was there and would have happily done it. My stepmom helped me decorate, trust me she wanted to do that more than anything. My mom dropped off the cake stand on her way home.

Our bridal party didn't really have "jobs", we hired a coordinator for those kinds of things so they could enjoy their day and have fun with us. Our photographer arrived in advance and I had sent her a list in advance who would be in what pictures, so she just called out names and I also pointed out people to her prior when she arrived. She was friends with us on Facebook so she knew who our parents were & everything else.

View Quoted Comment Thank you for your helpful & relevant answer!


Unfortunately the way part of my post got deleted, it wasn’t clear, but I’m not planning all these (some, yes). I’m wondering what has been helpful to other brides.
It did seem to me like the photographer would ask me and/or we wouldn’t have to “wrangle” people because they’d all be in the same spot as a previous poster said. That being said, he might need help if we decide on any shots of important non-family or non-wedding party that won’t stick around for official photos (will proceed to reception venue).
I also wondered who’s going to need to call on the day of! We should have this figured out to a tee by then. But just in case, I guess.
Luckily our only rentals are the suits as we have a venue with all decorations/cake stand/etc. Best Man is local and has to go return his anyway (the place is closed Sundays 😖), so it’s not going to be out of his way to return groom/other groomsmen’s. We leave for honeymoon Monday and didn’t know about them being closed when we booked the flights.

View Quoted Comment So with the photographer, your planner doesn’t know who everyone is and isn’t going to run around asking names - a close friend or sibling is the best one to do this, and it’s not hard. I fully expect and want to help with my siblings weddings (one in October, more in the future). It would bring me joy to help them. You’re gonna get comments but realistically there are just so many little things to do and someone has to do it, it could be before or after the wedding, and your planner isn’t going to do all those little things.

Daughter's DOC and the venue coordinator handled everything except the Photo Wrangling.... As pps mentioned, for that to be helpful, it should be someone who knows all the key players. Daughter made a detailed list for the photographer of all the family and unique "friend group" must have shots (almost half the guests were family, and it was important to get a bunch of specific groupings -- unfortunately, we've learned the hard way that one never knows if/when some relatives will be together in one place again, so we like to document). Photographer asked for a "photo wrangler," just so we could move quickly through those pictures and he and his second shooter could focus on composing shots and taking pictures, rather than getting the right people into the pictures. Daughter asked two of my sisters, her aunts, to be the photo wranglers. She sent them the shot lists in advance and at the end of the ceremony the officiant asked ALL extended family on both sides to stay while other guests moved on to cocktail hour. My sisters were able to announce the groupings, and occasionally round up those who had wandered off; it helped tremendously. We got through a ton of pictures in a short amount of time, and as each grouping was done (e.g., bride's cousins), they were dismissed so they could join cocktail hour. We did the biggest groupings first so by the end, pretty much everyone had gone to cocktail hour but the parents & siblings. The Wranglers were super helpful, but it needs to be someone who knows who's who.