3 Occasions to Involve the Mother of the Bride and Groom
As maid of honor, you’ll need all the help you can get when it comes to planning the bridal shower, bachelorette party, and day-of details. While it’s a given that you’ll look to your fellow bridesmaids for that help, don’t forget about the two other important ladies involved in this journey- the MOB and MOG.
More often than not, the mothers of the bride and groom would love to be a part of the planning process but aren’t sure where their help is needed. On the other hand, many maids of honor could use the help but feel uncomfortable reaching out to ask for assistance.
We’re here to put an end to the nonsense and encourage you to ask for all the extra hands you can get. Besides, we all know there’s nothing quite like a mother’s touch!
1. Bridal Shower
Planning your bestie’s bridal shower is no one-woman job, that’s what makes it the perfect opportunity to enlist the help of not just the rest of the bridal party, but the moms too. While selecting the venue, feel free to ask for their recommendations or opinions. On occasion, the mother of the bride will offer her house or that of a relative if the option is available. If that is not the case, it is totally acceptable to ask for their help in splitting rental fees.
As far as the food and drink menus go, reach out to both the MOB and MOG to see if they have a favorite dish or cocktail they would want to bring, encouraging them to ask relatives or family friends to do the same. When it comes to decorations, be sure to send the moms on a hunt through old photo albums so you have plenty of pictures to display of both the bride and groom.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to request their assistance on the day of the shower, whether it be showing up early to help decorate or putting them in charge of refilling refreshments.
2. Bachelorette Party
Before you panic- no, we do not want you to invite them to tag along. We are strictly a moms-free bachelorette party zone. However, just because they aren’t involved in the festivities themselves doesn’t mean they can’t take place in some of the planning.
For instance, it’s common for the bridal party to split the bride’s fees amongst themselves for things such as travel, lodging, food, and drink. If this is something you and your fellow bridesmaids plan on doing, don’t hesitate to ask the moms to pitch in. If you are not comfortable asking for that amount of money, you could simply see if they’d be willing to buy a round of drinks at one of your planned stops.
Maybe the bride isn’t looking for a destination bachelorette party, in which case you could enlist the help of the MOB and MOG in finding lodging such as a family or friend’s lake or beach home. It could even be as simple as asking them to pitch in for snacks or bottles of water for the trip.
3. Wedding Day
Nowadays it’s common for most brides to include their mother and future mother-in-law in the getting ready festivities, so do yourself a favor and take advantage of the extra set of eyes and ears. To succeed in keeping everyone on track and ahead of schedule, ask the MOB and MOG to help you watch the clock and let you know if there are any setbacks.
You can also use them as a messenger between the bride and groom if there are any gifts or letters to be exchanged before the ceremony. Lastly, and most importantly, rely on their natural maternal instincts to watch over the bride and make sure she is taking the time to eat a little something and drink plenty of water.
