It is in the background, but without it nothing would work: The maid of honor
The bride is the centre of every dream wedding. It is her great day, which will hopefully do justice to all her girl’s dreams and desires. Behind every happy bride, however, is a well-rested, perfectly organised maid of honor who is prepared for any crisis. She’s the quarterback, the secret weapon and the rock of the moment.
Well, almost every bride. With Pippa Middleton, the Duchess’s maid of honor, almost stealing the show at the wedding of Kate and Prince William, Meghan Markle gave up a friend or relative to support her on her big day. Prince Harry’s wife was accompanied by a group of flower children after the ceremony, but otherwise Meghan Markle mastered the ceremony alone. But she certainly also had some helping hands at her side.
But what does such a witness have to do on a big day? First and foremost, it is responsible for crisis management and rapid solutions. The flower girl has forgotten the flowers, the photographer is stuck in traffic? Mother-in-law complaining of headaches? The future husband got rid of the shirt button just before the wedding? She is armed with all the tools and removes any problems before the bride even gets wind of them.
In addition to her function as organizer, she is of course primarily there for the welfare of the bride. She holds the handkerchiefs ready if there is a nervous breakdown before the wedding, she mediates when the rags fly at the last moment with so much tension, she makes sure that the rather unpopular cousin does not get too close to the bride and she always stands ready in the perfect moment with a glass of champagne.
In her handbag you will find everything from painkillers to chewing gum, stain pens and deodorant that McGyver would pack, because she has been worrying about all worst-case scenarios for weeks and is perfectly prepared. She checks that the photographer always takes pictures at the right moment, politely puts an end to long speeches and heats up the party at the end of the evening.
For the maid of honor a wedding is probably more stress than absolute relaxation, but when the deeply happy bride lies in her arms at the end of the day, then she knows that all exertions were worth it! Next time she will be the princess and can fully rely on her friend!
