15 Things I Learned From Being a Bridesmaid

Being a bridesmaid is a great honor but for grown-ups, being the bridesmaid, or worse, the maid of honor for one of your best friends can be an experience that you may not want to repeat too often or ever again!

Here are 15 things I learned as a bridesmaid veteran of five weddings:
1. Remember it's not your day! The bride is the center of attention and it is her big day so be prepared to cater for her every whim. After all, as bridesmaid you only have to deal with Little Miss' tantrums and spats for a few rehearsals and the day of the wedding, after that the poor guy she's marrying has to deal with her for life;

2. While you may not be the center of attention as far as the wedding is concerned, you can be assured of being the center of attention for lots of guys! I should know because I met my husband when I was a bridesmaid for the 4th time but be careful if you are thinking this will be a great way to find a catch because:

3. Never, and I mean NEVER! Let a guy open the door and escort you if he calls you "Sugar", "Babe" or worse, "Sugarbabe!";

4. Do not let a bride convince you to wear grapevine as headgear. Yes you can still find it, on a remote hillside in South Carolina on property owned by a gun toting hillbilly aged 72 and related to Jed Clampett as both his brother and second uncle;

5. Wearing woven grapevine leaves marks, both physical and emotional, which last for up to 6 months, if you have the choice, wear a crown of thorns instead;

6. Glue guns are a great invention for people who want to stick things and are not worried about whether they will explode or not - just remember that glue guns do overheat and will overheat because they are going to get a lot of use and as bridesmaid, you have to pitch in;

7. Brides want everyone to wear matching ear rings so be prepared to get your ears pierced if you haven't already done so;

8. If you are asked to write a speech, do not retell the time when your "Best Friend", who is getting married, was violently ill after drinking too much and ended the evening clinging to the toilet, swearing the world was ending and she couldn't let it go because there was an earthquake (we lived in Ohio at the time);

9. If you are serious about catching the bouquet when the bride throws it, make sure you are wearing an outfit which will hold you in, as falling out of the top of your dress while stretching for the flowers can be very revealing resulting in more guys calling you "Sugar", "Babe" etc;

10. Do NOT get drunk at the reception!;

11. The old saying, "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride!" is simply not true, I'm happily married to my husband whom I met when serving as a bridesmaid at wedding number 4;

12. Do everything you can to convince the bride that bridesmaid can get out of their dresses and into practical dress as soon as possible for the evening. If she won't budge on this, make sure the bridesmaids dresses are comfortable and practical if you have to spend the day in them;

13. The same applies to shoes!'

14. Buying gifts for the bride and groom should really be about getting them things they will enjoy - people buy the most boring and unoriginal gifts which cost a fortune but the ones that make an impression are the ones where a lot of thought has gone into them;

15. Being a bridesmaid for five friends I am not interested in repeating the experience unless by new baby girl really wants me to do it for her!