Fun Bridesmaid activities

I am planning to ask my bridal party for dinner at the brewpub that our reception is going to be held at. It is by no means mandatory, rather an excuse to get some of my closest ladies together. If they offer to help with anything (shopping, DIY projects, stuffing envelopes, drinking mojito's while agonizing over what shade of purple we actually want to go with) they will be welcome to, but it is not mandatory.

@Nessa you're right. This wasn't one of those posts. I guess I didn't word my post correctly. I wasn't implying that I'm asking how people will abuse their BP or make them work for you. I meant how will you spend your time with them leading up to the wedding. I assume if you ask them to be your BP you must enjoy their company.

I booked a suite for myself the night before the wedding and invited all the bridesmaids to stay if they want. Not mandatory. I probably will be trying to get as much sleep as possible anyway. I plan on having mimosas or some other drink and snacks while we are getting ready the next day.

I agree OP, and by default, if they accepted, it is safe to assume they enjoy your company back. As a bridesmaid, I commit to usually spending a good chunk of change on a dress, a gift, and sometimes even travel. I'm not going to agree to this unless we're really close, I really love you, and I'm genuinely excited for you and want to (mostly) take part in pre-wedding things.

Now of course, people are busy, strap for cash, have bad days, aren't as excited about your wedding as you are, etc. which is why it should never be demanded or expected. But in my experience, when bridal parties are picked right, these things just come naturally.

I'm sorry for the ladies on here that don't feel the same about their bridal party and vice versa.

Much of our wedding party is going to be around for most of the week before our wedding, which is awesome, so hopefully there will be lots of sitting around and drinking and laughing. Other than that, we're planning on an epic game of Cards Against Humanity. Most of our party already knows each other, so it's going to be mostly hanging out like we usually do.

Hopefully there won't be much to do at all the week before our wedding (that's why I'm paying people...) but if there is, FH and I will take care of it as quickly as possible and get back to relaxing with everybody else.

Ummmm. We went and picked out dresses. I took them for dinner and drinks. Then my MOH came a day before wedding. We had rehearsal dinner and drinks and then hung out the night before.

However we(DH and I)planned our own wedding, and the small number of DIYs that we did me and my DH did together. Cause it's our wedding and I would never ask someone to help like that.

@Nessa I love your dinner hosting idea! I'm honestly not very crafty or good with a silicone gun but 2 of my BM are and they find any excuse to bust out their craft kits. Lol. Another one of my BM is definitely not into that stuff and she's not forced to do any of this stuff by any means.

Some people are feeling very pouncy today.

We are planning on having a DIY spa night. Doing hair masks, painting nails, feet soaks, face masks in our pjs. My bridal party consists of my cousins, my sisters, my best friend, and one of FH's best friends! My FH's best friend told me up front that she did not want to do any of the girly things which is totally fine! But I am so excited to have a girls night out!

@SoontobeMrs. Haha yes many mimosas will be involved! I took them plus my mom and FMIL to a bottomless mimosas brunch before wedding dress shopping and it was so fun!! But it definitely made dress shopping unproductive lol. I was too tipsy to really discern what dresses I liked haha.

Fun activities for bridesmaids? What are little kids? The fun activity they get to take part in is the show up to you're wedding, in the dress chosen, and be sober (or mostly sober) game.

Not much. Night before I'll see them at the rehearsal dinner. Day of we'll get ready. I see them and talk to them on a regular basis but it's rarely wedding related. I get sick of wedding stuff honestly.

I liked being informed of what was going on for weddings so I could offer my help and be assistance to my friend the bride or groom. I do not like glitter but if being a glitter covered bitch helped out my friend I was happy to do so. I do not expect anything from my bridesmaids but when I was one, I always expected to be accountable for something. I guess that is/was just me.

I am thinking of taking my gals out on a sunset cruise on the lake we are getting married on, or go for a little road trip up north to go float down a river with some beers. Not everyone on the forum will like that, but you know your party the best.

Paint nights are always fun or check nearby offers on groupon to see what is around.

I'm planning on having a team of masseurs come to my home the night before. It's a team of handsome message therapists here in LA that come to your home, super professional and friendly. I've hired them in the past and they've been a big hit.

@OP here is my timeline so far...

Wednesday by 3pm we will pick up MOH and one BM from Florida, then go to the hotel and let them freshen up. At 7pm we have rehearsal in the church then we all going out to eat after that. (we are paying for everyone).

Thursday morning, I will bring MOH and BM to visit the city for 2-3 hours till the others came back from work, then we have a spa appointment and we will be doing mani/pedi together. From 8-10pm MOH request a moment of prayer together then we will sleep at the hotel.

Friday morning we get hair and make up done together, then yayyy I am married.

Saturday morning before we leave, I might have to drop MOH and BM at the airport, not sure yet.

I hope that helps.

I didn't plan any special activities for my bridesmaids other than just the typical getting together for the day to go bridesmaid dress shopping followed by dinner/drinks. On the day before the wedding I invited any of the girls who were free to join me for a mani/pedi. For the morning of the wedding I set up a nice breakfast spread and mimosa bar for my girls. I really wanted them to feel pampered and well taken care of. As for my experiences in other bridal parties....my one friend asked the bridesmaids to come over and stuff invitation envelopes at her house. After the invites were done we pigged out on pizza and ice cream and watched girly movies from our high school days like "Mean Girls" and "Can't Hardly Wait." Another friend had a pool party for the bridal party to mix and mingle shortly after their engagement. This isn't a typical situation, but I was MOH for a friend who is completely estranged from her family and her FH was deployed overseas for the majority of their engagement. Me and the other 2 bridesmaids really wanted her to feel supported so we were more involved in helping her plan than most...one of the best memories was when she invited us to come with her to the venue's food tasting (so she wouldn't have to go by herself). We all dressed up fancy and treated it like a girls' night out and had a blast.

My goodness, people can be so harsh and so set in their ways that if anyone has any ideas different than their own, it just doesn't end well. With that being said -- I am hoping to do a girls day in Portland, OR. Two of my BM live in SoCal and my MOH and I live in Bend a few hours away from PDX so when we are all together it'll be nice to make a day trip to portland and do all the fun things like get our nails done, facials, and go to sephora where we are getting our makeup done as a sort of trial and buying the supplies afterwards to replicate the look on the wedding day. It's just going to be a fun day for all of us to get together and hang out without the stress of the families or the approaching wedding.

@Renee D Wow since when is having fun only for little kids? If that's your mentality about your BP that's your choice. I'd hate to be a BM with such boring mentality Blah blah show up blah stand in your dress mostly sober. haha

@snowangel I like your mani pedi plan. I think in my case gathering to drink wine and think of ideas is more of an excuse to drink wine and have fun. I'm hiring a coordinator and a decorator whom I'll pay to handle all that. I'm no using any of my BP for free labor. I want to treat them somehow bc I appreciate them and bc I enjoy their company.

A lot of the people in our wedding party are hockey fans and we got married near DC, so some of us went to a Capitals game 2 days before.

We're doing brunch on Friday (groomsmen are golfing), then the normal getting ready stuff on Saturday.

We did a wine and paint night for my bachelorette and it was a ton of fun. Definitely recommend it!