Wouldn’t it be easy if a man could just split the list of things to do with his bride to be right down the middle? But he can’t, and I’ll tell you why. There are so many things that need done, and your bride will want to have a hand in all of them. Unfortunately, she simply can’t, and will usually end up either stressed out or committed to an asylum by the time it was all over. Lucky for you there is a way to get through this and make it work–which will require you to take on at least five of the pre-wedding responsibilities..
1. Announcements and Invitations
A good start to helping your bride is with the engagement announcements and wedding invitations. This is mostly busy work, but I guarantee that the bride will adore you if you save her from fussing over every detail and ending up with carpal tunnel syndrome. And yes, these should traditionally be hand written and addressed, so get those ideas of mass produced copies out of your head.
2. Budget
This one goes without saying, but you had better step in and lend a hand with the initial budget planning of the wedding. If you don’t, you could be spending your 401K retirement plan before you even get your coffin to the top of the hill. Women traditionally have grand ideas and a much bigger budget in mind than us guys. Make sure that you are both on the same page before any real dough starts to dribble around the drain. This is assuming that her parents will not be footing the entire bill, which is becoming a dying tradition now as many weddings average around $25,000 or more.
3. Vendor Appointments
Another good job for the groom is to set up the appointments with the vendors. This means the cake, flowers, music, caterer and any other key members you can think of. Be sure that you pick dates that she can be there too, because believe me, these are not decisions you want to make on your own. It should also be the responsibility of the groom to confirm with all of the vendors a couple weeks before the wedding to make sure that everything is on schedule.
4. Dressed for Success
As the groom, you should also take care of the outfits for all your groomsmen. The most important thing that the bride will be concerned with is the coloring, so get it right the first time. This means that you will need to haul your best men in for a fitting, which is sometimes easier written than accomplished. And when it comes to the bachelor party in Vegas (or equivalent), make sure that your wedding clothes fit, are clean, ironed, have all their accessories, and are ready to go long before you head out the door to party.
5. Honeymoon
Your final responsibility (with some helpful guidance from your bride) is the honeymoon. Women love surprises, so this leaves room for you to create some nice ones to be in store for her. Long story short, the basic plan should be a group decision (between you and her), and then avoid any criticisms from friends and family by keeping these plans hush-hush until you get back home.
The groom has it easy compared to the bride, there is no doubt about that. However, the most important thing to do is listen and sympathize with her frustrations, and then repeat. Your bride does not want you to solve all her problems, but she will expect you to understand them. Once you get this down, helping out with these five responsibilities will be the icing on her cake.
