Your Maid of Honour Duties, Explained

To make sure your maid of honour knows exactly what their duties are, take a look at our easy-to-follow checklist!

As the bride, you should choose your maid of honour carefully, as the role demands certain qualities in order for the expected duties to be performed. They’ll need to be a good listener and advisor. They'll need to be really organised and willing to muck in. Furthermore, they’ll have to be able to take charge, and, most importantly, you need to trust them.

From organising the bridesmaids and advising on the best wedding dress, to giving a maid of honour speech, the duties of a maid of honour are vast and varied. There’s much more to it than just planning the hen party, you know!

Maid of Honour Duties Explained

To help you and your top ranking crew member answer the burning maid of honour questions, we've compiled our go-to duties guide and tips on everything you must know.

Pre-Wedding Duties

Maid of honour duties start well before the big day. In fact, your top bridesmaid should be there to help you with any parts of the wedding planning you need. This could mean helping you decide on a colour scheme, venue, or even the wedding cake. While also visiting wedding shows, going dress shopping with you and helping put together stationery.

Your maid of honour must be honest in their feedback — if a dress or hairstyle doesn’t suit you, or if you’re risking your wedding budget, they should feel able to tell you.

Richard Designs Bridesmaids

Plan the Hen Party

A maid of honour's real moment to shine is in the planning of the hen party. They normally take the lead in organising it, and should have put a lot of thought into it, aided by the other bridesmaids, who should also be asked for ideas.

The hen party should ideally take place up to 2-3months before the wedding. Giving yourselves this amount of time allows for bruises to fade and for people to recover from their hangovers!

The Day Before the Wedding

If there are any hired items that need collecting, the maid of honour should help out by offering to pick them up, so the couple aren’t stressing about little logistical details the day before their wedding.

The maid of honour may be required to help set up the reception room the night before, if the venue allows, and it's also nice if they can accompany the bride on last-minute beauty appointments.

On the Wedding Day

The maid of honour will take care of the bride and lead the bridesmaids in their duties. They should make sure the bride eats something proper for breakfast, and ensure that everyone is hydrated with something apart from Prosecco. Of course, you can all have a celebratory drink while getting ready for the ceremony, perhaps to calm the nerves. But don't drink so much that you're stumbling down the aisle…! Your maid of honour should be there to tell you when enough is enough. Aiding the bride in the bathroom might also come into play if you have difficulty with your dress.

One of a maid of honour’s largest duties will be to help the bride get ready on the day of their wedding. And they should have emergency accessories kit on them, just in case. A sewing kit, safety pins, mints, tissues etc. If things start to get a little overwhelming, they should also be able to create some quiet alone if the bride needs it.

The maid of honour will ensure everything is as it should be, and if possible, they should visit the ceremony and reception rooms before people arrive, just to make sure everything is as it should be. They should be equipped to answer any questions from family, guests, and suppliers (such as the photographer, the caterer, the band, etc). Send messages back and forth between people, and give out any specifications (such as any particular photos the couple wants to have taken).

Bridesmaids from Honora by Richard Designs

During the Wedding Ceremony & Reception

Hold the Bride’s Bouquet

During the wedding ceremony, the maid of honour will need to hold the bride’s bouquet. They may also be asked to give a reading or be a witness while the newly-weds sign the register. After the ceremony, the happy couple will leave first and the maid of honour and best man will follow together.

Stand in the Receiving Line

At the reception, if there is a receiving line, the maid of honour will need to join the newly-weds in greeting the guests as they arrive for the wedding breakfast. If there is a gift table, they should help in taking the presents and displaying them nicely.

The maid of honour is traditionally seated on the top table along with the happy couple, their parents and the best man. If there’s a different line-up on the top table, it may be that the maid of honour is seated among the guests, ‘hosting’ a table of their own.

Clear up the Bridal Suite

If the bridal party enjoyed getting ready for the big day in the bridal suite, the room may have been left in a little bit of a state.

The maid of honour should/could make sure that the bridal suite is clean and tidy, ready for the happy couple on their first married night together. It’s a nice idea to head up there during the reception and have a quick tidy up. The bride will really appreciate it.

If one of your maid of honour duties is still to get a bridesmaids dress, you better book yourself an appointment at our new-look shop! Book your appointment with us and let's find your bridesmaids their dream look.