Being asked to be a part of someone’s bridal party is a huge honour. It shows that they regard you as one of their closest friends. But what happens if you don’t want to be a bridesmaid, or maybe you just can’t. Can you ever say no without it impacting on your friendship?
The truth is yes, you can decline the title ‘bridesmaid’ without torching a friendship but it needs to be done properly.
It’s about her
If you don’t think that you can be the best possible bridesmaid for your friend, you should be honest and tell her. The role is so much more than just popping on a pretty dress and standing up front on the big day. There is a lot of planning involved. It’s likely that you’ll be asked to attend various appointments and events. You will probably need a few get togethers with the other bridesmaids to plan surprises and it’s sure to put a dampener on things if you are not able to be at a lot of them.
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Tell her up front that you won’t be able to commit properly to the role and that you wouldn’t feel right accepting such an honour knowing in advance that you wouldn’t be able to give it 100 per cent due to prior commitments like work schedules, family issues, travel plans or whatever else it is taking up your time. It’s best to be honest rather than have a friendship suffer because she felt that her wedding was never a priority for you.