{A Place of Honor}

Dear Bride-to-Be: 

“Even the most understated ceremony involves a certain respect for ritual and pageantry, and no one plays more of a significant role than the bride’s attendants,” wrote designer Vera Wang. “From the youngest flower girl to the maid of honor, they provide a prelude to the much anticipated coming of the bride. They also occupy a place of honor and trust throughout the celebration.”

Then there is simply a practical need for bridal attendants since many wedding gowns require assistance to get buttoned- or laced- or bustled-up. Here is a ritual that goes back to antiquity. “Egyptian nobles,” for instance, wrote author Maria McBride-Mellinger, “rarely groomed and dressed themselves: instead, they yielded themselves to the ministrations of serving maidens in an early version of our modern ritual of bridesmaids dressing the bride.”

There is an intriguing history and romance to all wedding rituals...but none so personal as your attendants. Your bridal attendants honor you as well as assist you; they enhance the pageantry of your ceremony and they support you with their love. Celebrate their “place of honor” just as you appreciate their myriad number of tasks accomplished in the coming together of your beautiful wedding day! 

Love. Listen. Let go.

...with love from Cornelia

ps: for more about wedding attendants, click her for a favorite past blog post which is also an excerpt from my upcoming book, The End of the Fairy-Tale Bride, due for a mid-February release!

[Photograph courtesy of Vera Wang]