Everyone in your wedding party is important, but perhaps the most important person is your maid of honor. Picking a great maid of honor is important because you’ll be giving her the bulk of responsibilities. In other words, if your best friend is a bit flaky, you might want to choose your sister instead! Of course, you can give the maid of honor as many or few responsibilities as you want, but here are some of the things that maids of honor traditionally do. A good maid of honor…

• Goes shopping with you for your wedding dress, as well as other items like your invitations, shoes, and flowers
• Coordinates the contractors involved with the wedding day (the caterers, DJ, etc) while you’re getting ready
• Plans the bridal shower and bachelorette party
• Acts as a go-between for you and your groom on your wedding day
• Is your shoulder to cry on if you need it
• Acts as a witness when signing your wedding license
• Holds your bouquet during the ceremony
• Hands your the groom’s ring (if you don’t have a ring bearer)
• Gives a toast during the reception
• Takes care of the gifts and money your guests bring for you
• Helps to clean up the reception hall

Again, you can give your maid of honor other duties as well, like picking up your dress, ordering the limo, or doing your make-up. The key is to have someone who you can comfortably give duties without worrying if they are going to get done or not.

You can read more about maid of honor duties at Bridesmaid 101.

 Photos by Juan Lupion and babasteve

• Three Cures for Cold Feet
• Should you have a receiving line and how does it work?
• Changing out of your dress at the reception
• Three Tips for Dealing with Wedding Hoopla