Being chosen as a maid of honor is a great privilege, but it also requires a large number of responsibilities in the wedding planning process. The maid of honor will likely be spending a great deal of time with the best man, since their duties are often the same and require them to work hand-in-hand in order for the wedding to be a success. Once you have dealt with the excitement of being part of the wedding party and of wearing a great dress, it's time to start planning immediately. Here is a list of common duties the maid of honor must fulfill:

It is the maid of honor's responsibility to shop with the bride and attend all dress fittings. The maid of honor may want to help the bridesmaids shop for their dresses as well.

The maid of honor will be required to help with wedding invitations, wedding favors, flower arrangements, centerpieces or anything else at the bride's request.

A large part of the maid of honor's duties requires her to throw the bridal shower and bachelorette parties. The maid of honor will be responsible for planning and hosting all of these parties. If the couple decides they want a stag and doe (as opposed to bachelor and bachelorette parties) the maid of honor and best man will work together to plan and host the event.

It's the maid of honor's duty to record the names of the guests at the bridal party as well as their gifts. It is also her job to send out thank you cards to all guests.

During the wedding ceremony, it's the maid of honor's responsibility to hold onto the groom's ring (the best man is required to hold onto the bride's ring).

It's the maid of honor's responsibility (as well as the best man's) to sign the wedding license as a witness.

Finally, it is tradition for the maid of honor and best man to dance together at the reception.

If you are a first-time maid of honor and need help planning there are many people who would be eager to help out starting with the bride's mom or the bridesmaids. There are also a number of Internet resources to assist you with bridal planning and ideas.

The maid of honor has many responsibilities, but it's important to remember that the bride would not have chosen you if she didn't think you were capable of fulfilling these obligations.

Samantha Taylor spent several years working in the weddings industry as a wedding planner. When she isn't being a mom of two wonderful children, she works as a freelance writer for http://www.yourwedding101.com - a site that offers information about everything wedding related - from hosting a wedding reception to wedding speeches and more.

RELATED ARTICLES

Divorce Rate Plummets As More Americans Shack Up Instead of Getting Married
More Americans are taking "til death do us part" seriously. According to the recently released Rutgers University National Marriage Project the number of divorces is declining. But the lower divorce rate is largely because couples are postponing, choosing not to, or are legally unable to get married. Like Oprah Winfrey and Stedman Graham, and Elton John and David Furnish, these 11 million unmarried couples are in committed relationships and sharing financial obligations, but aren't entitled to the 1,140 federal laws that apply to married couples.

Diamond Hunting
Diamond hunting can be quite traumatic for the uninitiated. It is a big purchase and often one that has high emotional content. Simply knowing the facts before you start can ease the pressure. It also helps for the vendors to know you have some idea of what you are looking at.

Selecting Your Wedding Centerpieces
Wedding centerpieces help tie together the look of your entire table setting. The wedding centerpieces will affect the linens you choose, the size of the tables and even the number of guests you seat on each table. It is important to discuss beforehand with your decorator and caterer the wedding centerpiece options available to you.

Wedding Bouquets for Life
One of the most beautiful of the bride's adornments at a wedding is the bouquet. Normally constructed of fresh flowers, the wedding bouquet would last for a week or two, and then have to be dried or tossed. Today that is not the case; today's modern bride has options that are more permanent.

Wedding Planning: Tips for Choosing Online Wedding Vendors
If you're looking to the internet for help with your wedding plans, you're sure to benefit from the wealth of organizational and comprehensive wedding tips, ideas, tools and resources available right at your fingertips! The internet is packed with useful websites, as well as online stores offering every wedding product and service imaginable. You'll find everything from wedding invitations, wedding keepsakes and wedding favors to online bridal gift registries, travel agencies for destination weddings and honeymoons, wedding consulting services and much more. To ensure that you can recognize and hire or purchase from qualified wedding vendors, the key is to be aware of a few general guidelines.

Marriage Counseling: How to Keep Jealousy From Destroying Your Marriage
Jealousy has often been called the "green-eyed monster," and with good reason. The "monster" is fueled by envy and can over time devour the trust and harmony in a relationship.

Wedding Rings - How to Choose a Perfect Ring
Selecting a wedding ring isn't as easy as it looks. You are going to wear your ring for the rest of your life, so it should be something you won't get tired of in a couple years. You will have to look at and try on many different rings before you come to a final decision and, being an intelligent consumer, you should know what your options are.

The Wedding Dress Revealed
Fashion Trends and Popular Styles and Colors

Tahiti Honeymoon Resorts: Fun-tastic Experience
Tahiti honeymoon resorts are the best places you could think of when you think of a romantic and passion filled honeymoon. Tahiti is the picture perfect place for your honeymoon. If you cherish your love, then you cannot afford to think beyond Tahiti.

Unique Mens Wedding Bands; For When Common Won?t Do
Wedding rings are a symbol of union. A union between a man and a woman.

10 Ideas for Perfect Wedding Gifts
Wedding ceremonies are the stuff fairy tales are made of. Marriages are made in heaven, it is said. Keeping this age-old adage in mind, a heavenly atmosphere is created at the wedding venue. Aromatic smells fill the air. Guests decked in their Sunday best walk the red carpet with wedding gifts in tow. Giving gifts on the wedding day is part of the ceremony. A gift symbolizes the good will guests have for the newly married. Through these gifts, guests wish the couple a long and happy married life. Naturally, when wedding gifts are purchased the most important thing that one keeps in mind is their durability. It is usually felt that a wedding gifts should make a lasting impression. Everyone wants to make a lasting impression. Here is how:

To Stay Married, Keep Dating
One of my favorite memories from last year was not watching my young daughters rip into their Christmas presents, or seeing them perform in the school talent show. No, my happiest recollection was the date my husband and I went out on one stormy Tuesday night in November.

50th Wedding Anniversary Gift Ideas
A 50th anniversary gift commemorates a milestone most married couples wish to reach. What can you possibly give a couple after 50 years of marriage? The most meaningful wedding anniversary gift is one that comes from the heart: to express your love and appreciation towards all that they mean to you, how their staying married through the thick and thin of life has influenced you, to tell about the warm and loving memories you shared with them throughout the years.

Cancun Honeymoon Vacation - Pleasure Unlimited!
The Cancun honeymoon vacation comes with its bagage of sweet promises of fulfilment and bliss for one and all. Lying in the lap of nature in the arms of your loved one is one of the many cherished experiences you would have in a Cancun honeymoon vacation.

Beyond Her Grasp
I am a woman, 42, who three years ago married a wonderful man who will be 48 on his next birthday. I love him very, very much. The only problem is our sex life is horrible. Pretty much nonexistent. I can safely say we have had sex maybe 20 times in our six year relationship.

Marriage Missing its Spark?
If the fires of passion in your marriage have been reduced nearly to embers, then you are not alone. One of the most common problems that can damage a marriage is the loss of spark?or spice, or whatever you like to call it. It's really not so easy to get yourself or your partner "in the mood" once you have become very familiar with each other. Of course, it's wonderful to be familiar with your spouse because familiarity is the basis of intimacy. But intimacy is not the same as passion, is it? Routine is the culprit. If the proper countermeasures are not deployed against routine's assault on your relationship, then it will drain all the passion right out of your marriage. Routine is a tenacious killer of passion?a suspect in the deaths of over 1 million steamy romances. I know routine comes in very handy for showers and oil changes, but it has no place in the bedroom.

Bridal Shower Games?The Good, the Bad and the Overdone
Games can make or break a shower. The best can break the ice and liven up the party. The worst can embarrass and bore. So, how can you avoid this?

Making a Budget For Your Wedding
Just the thought of all the expenses that come with a wedding, can really put a damper on the most important day of your life, especially when you need to work within a financial frame of X dollars. To avoid the stress of facing too many decisions all at once, try making a budget for your wedding.

Do You Hear Wedding Bells?
So you've been in that perfect relationship for some time now. You've been dropping hints about the future and he is receiving you loud and clear. It's time to do a little "window shopping." After all, you don't want to leave one of the most important decisions in your life entirely up to him, do you? He WILL lose sleep over finding that perfect engagement ring, even though he will not admit it. So why not help him out a little, give him some guidance and direction.

Wedding Reception Entertainment - Choose Wisely
When planning your wedding, what type of entertainment are you looking for? A comedian? A clown? A 3-ring circus? Of course not ? you are looking for high quality entertainment that is tailored to your vision for this once-in-a-lifetime event. Your wedding reception entertainment should tie together all the things you have been dreaming of for many, many months.

some more interesting links ......

Wedding Finances - Like some information on ways to finance that Wedding to Remember? Check out our library of over 430 articles on personal loans to help you find an affordable Personal Loan

Honeymoons - For some of the best current deals on flights and hotels for that honeymoon, please click Discount Flights

Weddings Worldwide - If you live outside the UK, check out our library of over 600 wedding articles from around the world: Wedding Dresses

Do all your friends seem to be getting married? - to visit a library of over 400 articles on Dating, please click Online Dating