How Can I Be a Good Long Distance Maid of Honor?

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Photo: Hayley Bray
 

Jen Glantz is a "Professional Bridesmaid" and the founder of Bridesmaid for Hire. She's the author of All My Friends Are Engaged and frequently wears old bridesmaid dresses to the grocery store and on first dates. For her Brides.com column, Jen tackles the sticky situation of a long distance relationship — between the bride and her maid of honor, that is.

Long distance relationships are tricky. The key to making it through them smoothly is fluid communication, getting creative, and knowing when to be there for the other person without having them ask. I'm not only talking about long distance love relationships here, I'm talking about long distance maid of honor relationships to the bride.

If you've been asked to be a maid of honor and gladly accepted, you may start to feel a little bit left out if you live far away from the bride. Since you're not living around the block or in driving distance, you may even feel like you're not doing a good enough job as her maid of honor. But the truth is, distance isn't something you should worry about. You can do a great job with this role no matter where you live.


The first thing you can do is set up weekly calls with the bride. Have a plan to check in and catch up for an hour every Sunday. That way, you'll stay in the loop and be able to have some planned quality time with her. You can get creative and send her care packages along the way or surprise gifts here and there, especially when you feel her getting a little bit stressed out. The other thing to note is that since you won't be able to be there in person for her all the time, be sure to offer help along the way whenever you can by doing virtual tasks for her. Help her with research, start a Pinterest board for you two to look at, and even set her up with a virtual to-do list.

So no matter what state, time zone or even continent you live in, don't feel bad about being a long distance maid of honor. Instead, remember to have frequent Skype session and get creative with what you can do from miles away. A good friend is a good friend no matter where they live. The same applies for your maid of honor role.