For those planning a wedding and getting ready to experience one of the best days of their lives, it’s important to really think about who you’re going to surround yourself with during that time. The planning process could take months, if not years, and ensuring you have a good krewe around you to help with the parent drama, figuring out what to wear and all that is in between, is essential.
For the bride, part of those first few decisions after saying, “yes,” is choosing who will be in your bridal party and who will act as your Maid of Honor (MOH). While the origin story of the MOH is an interesting one, the title does come with a few responsibilities like helping the bride with dress selection, witnessing the signing of the marriage license and, for religious ceremonies, standing on the altar with the couple.
But what if you’re lucky enough to have more than one person you’d like to bestow the honor onto?
We were recently presented with this question, and it got us thinking. Not only was the circumstance more individual – this bride has three close friends and one, who is local, stepped up to help with the more clerical duties of a MOH, while not thinking of the reaction of the other women she wanted to highlight that day – but it had us step back and think about how we approach bridal parties in more modern terms.
When asked if it was OK to have three maids of honor (technically two and one Matron of Honor, as the third woman will be married before this wedding), our first response was that of the many other times we’ve been asked the question if something is OK for a wedding: at the end of the day, it is a celebration of you and your future husband or wife, you are allowed to celebrate however you want.
But looking to help find a solution to this particular problem, we came to the conclusion that outside of the logistics of the position, the real point is to honor this person and have them participate in your special day. And, likewise, your friends just want to be a part of the more magical moments to help you celebrate as well.
In the aforementioned origin story of the MOH, we also listed out some of the specific duties of the position, which include spearheading communication with attendants, supporting the bride as needed, attending wedding dress appointments and more. While all of those responsibilities, and any that are specific to your wedding day, are important there are a few that stuck out as noteworthy moments that also have the shared photo-worthy aspect that will last a lifetime.
We advised this bride to take three of the capturable moments and split them among the three friends, all sharing the responsibilities of planning and preparation that go along with the position. One friend will stand with the couple on the altar, fixing her dress and veil; one friend will help her get ready and put her dress on; and one will sign the marriage license along with the best man.
This way, each of the three friends gets one special moment with the bride throughout the day that are all essential to ensuring a beautiful and official wedding day.
Some additional splits among multiple maids of honor are designating specific aspects of events – think one person in charge of food, one in charge of decorations and the other attire or organization. So, while the short answer is yes, you can have more than two maids of honor, it’s important to think about what is special to you about the title and what is the most important aspects of the position that you’ll need help with. That way, you’re honoring your friend or family member while also ensuring that everything else goes smoothly for the perfe
