One of the most wonderful parts of getting married is the outpour of love and support that you receive from your friends and family. If you want to give the people you love a role in the wedding but only have space for so many bridesmaids and groomsmen then here are ten jobs you can give to your family and friends to involve them in the wedding!

1/ The Gift Table Guide

In the excitement of a wedding, it can be easy for guests to leave gifts in the wrong area accidentally. An easy way to fix this is to assign somebody to guard the gift table and guide confused guests and keep the table organised and presentable. Assigning somebody to keep an eye on the table also helps to prevent the (God forbid) risk of gift theft as people are less likely to lift things off a babysat table!

2/ The Officiant

This might even be a more special role in the wedding than the wedding party! Usually, this role can go to one of the couple's parents or siblings but it's honestly up to you. If you have an aunt or uncle, family friend or grandparent that means a lot to you then why not offer them the honour to marry you and your fiance!

Lilly Red

3/ The Ghost Writer

Not everybody is a gifted writer, this can be the case with the parents of the couple, the maid of honour or the best man. You might have a friend or family member however who's quite the Shakespeare. Provided they're willing, have them sit down with the people having troubles writing their speeches and help them put their feelings into more eloquent language.

4/ The Secretary

If you've read our piece about getting married in Ireland then you'll know that there's quite a lot of paperwork involved in the process. A good way to stay on track of this is to appoint somebody as the wedding secretary who will stay on top of what documents are needed on the big day and what to do with them afterwards!

Ed Miles

5/ The Performers

Amongst your friends and family chances are there are a few musical stars, whether it's for one song or the entire ceremony there's a certain flair or individualism with having a loved one perform at your big day!

6/ The Transportation

If you're having guests fly to Ireland for the big day or elderly guests with mobility issues then why not ask a friend or two to act as transport? Offer to pay for their petrol and in return, they pick up guests and vendors that may not have been able to attend otherwise.

Nirav Patel

7/ The Decor Specialist

If you're doing the reception decoration set up yourself, you'll probably need an able-bodied crew to help do everything from arranging the tables and chairs to set down the place cards. Enlist the help of a few crafty friends to help you with the laborious set up of your reception space and ceremony space a day or two before the wedding. As a thankyou don't forget to buy them lunch or dinner!

8/ The Day Of Accountant

On your wedding day, the last thing you want to worry about is money. Some vendors, however, require payment at the end of the event. Find your most trustworthy friend and ask if they would be willing to play the role of the wedding day accountant. All you have to do is sort the money for each vendor into clearly labelled envelopes and let them know who to talk to about who they're collecting payment from. This lets you spend the day without worry and all this friend has to do is hold onto some envelopes and then hand them off to the respective vendor.

Party City

9/ The Guest Book Guardian

Guest books are a lovely tradition and we would highly recommend having one at your wedding! However, some people might not be able to find the right words to write, or might need somebody to remind them to be appropriate. Ask a bubbly friend to stay around the guestbook early into the reception (Potentially during the cocktail hour) to give people a helping hand putting their sentiment into words!

10/ The Reception MC

Everybody has one friend or family member that was born to host events, why not put their skill to good use and ask if they would like to MC your wedding? You might have to give them a rundown of things they can and can't say but other than a copy of the schedule you may find that their talent shines. This takes the pressure off of you to direct a large group of people all night while trying to also have a good time, talk to everybody and potentially put out fires behind the scenes.

 

- Grainne