As a PR professional, I like to think of myself as a bit of an expert when it comes to event planning.  In the past few years, I’ve attended countless weddings, showers, bachelorette parties and – my favorite - cake tastings.  As I’ve taken my turn as a bridesmaid, I realized I have an arsenal of tricks upof my sleeve that make the planning process a little easier. If you consider that the wedding is just one big editor event, you can figure out all of your bridesmaid duties faster than they’ll say “I do.”

Logistics: There’s a reason we write key contact sheets, run-of-shows, and outline roles and responsibilities before a media event – it works! When my friend and former coworker Sami got married a few months ago, she had a 5-page run of show sent to all of her vendors prior to the big day.  They thought she was crazy, but everything went off without a hitch.  Assigning a fellow bridesmaid’s 4-year-old daughter to help me carry away opened presents during a bridal shower kept her out of her mom’s hair and helped us speed up the clean-up.

Budget: Three gifts, two dresses, and multiple weekends of travel can get expensive.  When you’re a bridesmaid, you’ve got to pony up for little extras, too. Make sure you have an OOP budget in mind, and don’t keep everything til the last minute, or you’ll be stuck with a $300 bill for monogrammed sugar cookies (I’ve done that.)   One of my favorite sites to help with the financial blow of a friend’s upcoming nuptials is Rent The Runway. For about $65, you can rent a designer dress for the weekend, and they’ll deliver it to your apartment in a garment bag, with a pre-addressed envelope to mail it back when you’re done, like Netflix.

Social Media: You can’t always see the bridal crew in person, but it’s easy to stay connected through social media.  Create a Pinterest album to show off ideas and get friends’ opinions. When I didn’t know how to create a ribbon bouquet, a bouquet made from the remnants of bridal shower presents to be used for the rehearsal, a friend sentd me a how-to link from YouTube so I knew what to do. 

Although the responsibility of being a bridesmaid can be a daunting task, PR professionals already have the essentials to put any wedding planner to shame.

- Amy