I had someone write in a few weeks ago with a very interesting question, that I’m sure many brides face when choosing their maid of honor or bridesmaids. This young lady had just gotten engaged, and wanted to ask a very good friend of hers to be her maid of honor, but the girl lived several hours away, and didn’t know if this would work or not. She did not want to make things difficult on her friend with a lot of traveling, and I believe she really wanted someone nearby to help her out with her wedding planning if she needed it. It was an interesting question. So the question being, should you choose a maid of honor that lives far away even though they are your best friend? I believe yes. There are plenty of things a maid of honor can do over a distance to help you out in your wedding planning, and here are just a few of them to think about.
Choosing a Wedding or Bridesmaid Dress
One of the tasks that the maid of honor is typically given is to help the bride choose the dresses that the bridesmaids will wear, as well as be with the bride when she is picking out her wedding dress. This can be done from a distance, though it may be a little difficult. For the bridesmaid dresses, ask your maid of honor to look on the Internet and/or try some dresses on to come up with some favorites for bridesmaid dresses. Then, you can easily email pictures back and forth. If you really want your maid of honor to be there when you are looking at wedding dresses, and the distance between you isn’t too far away, then plan a weekend when ya’ll can get together, and run and look and bridesmaid dresses and reception venues, and anything else you want to do with her.
Planning Bridal Showers or a Bachelorette Party
The Internet is a beautiful thing. If your maid of honor wants to throw a bridal shower or bachelorette party for you, it can still easily be done from a distance. Find a location you want (like a friend’s home or a restaurant), and then via the Internet she can easily make her reservations, buy any decorations she needs, and even send invitations to invited guests without living in the same town as you.
Being the Brides Right Hand “Man”
The basic duty of the maid of honor is to be there for the bride in whatever she may need. Your maid of honor can still do this for you if she lives farther away. By means of telephone calls you need her to make, some projects your maid of honor can do on her own out of town, and much more. Plus, she should be with you a few days before the wedding so you can get some help and friend time before the wedding as well.
When my husband and I got married, his best friend lived in Alaska at the time, and we live in Texas. There was no question in his mind that he still wanted his best friend to be his best man, and they just made it work. But if you think about it, the best man really doesn’t have as many duties as the maid of honor does, and it kind of got me to thinking a little bit. Hopefully this article has been a help to you, and if you have any more questions or examples about how this has worked out for you in the past, don’t hesitate to write and ask.
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