The Benefits Of Always Being A Bridesmaid And Never A Bride

You’ve probably attended more weddings than you can count by now, and while it might be somewhat frustrating that you still haven’t found your “One,” there are actually plenty of benefits to being a forever bridesmaid rather than the bride herself.

  1. You save a pretty penny. It’s not always cheap to be a bridesmaid. It’s true that you’ll have to buy your bridesmaid dress for each wedding you participate in but if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to re-wear the shoes. Unfortunately, there’s probably no getting out of these expenses unless you say no to being in your friend’s wedding. However, no matter what you spend, this will be chump change compared to how much you friends have to fork out for their weddings.
  2. You won’t turn into Bridezilla. I’m a firm believer that every single bride has the potential to turn into Bridezilla. Stress doesn’t bring out the best in people and brides are some of the worst when it comes to nightmare diva behavior. What’s the best way to avoid this freakish phenomenon? Well, to put it bluntly, don’t be a bride.
  3. You can actually enjoy the wedding(s). Open bar? Yes, please. Dancing until midnight? You bet. Once you’ve got a couple weddings under your belt, you probably won’t be all that stressed about being in a wedding. This means you will actually get to enjoy not only the ceremonies but the receptions too. They are essentially parties, right?
  4. You can focus on finding Mr. Right Now. So, your best friends are starting to find their Mr. Rights. They’re settling down and that makes them happy. That’s great, but there’s no reason you have to speed up your search. Maybe you’re interested in someone but not sure if you two will go the distance; you can take the time to figure it out. If he’s not your forever person, he’ll probably still make a decent plus-one.
  5. There won’t be any in-law drama. Mothers-in-law are notorious for interfering in their children’s lives, especially during the newlywed period. You may have to deal with phone calls from your besties and listen to them drone on and on about their problems with their in-laws but there IS good news. As soon as you hang up that phone, it all goes away. That mother-in-law is not YOUR mother-in-law. That drama is not your drama. Ah, doesn’t that feel good to know?
  6. Breakups are NBD. Okay, maybe not “no big deal” exactly. I’m not trying to say that breakups are always painless. However, they can be, especially if you’re in a casual relationship. Once someone gets married, breakups become indefinitely more complicated and generally end in divorce. This isn’t something anyone wants to go through, but there’s no denying that it happens. You won’t have to worry about this pesky D-word as a bridesmaid. If you breakup with the person you’ve been dating, even if it was a serious relationship, you don’t have to worry about dividing assets and all of the mess and tears that come with it.
  7. You get to keep your identity. Whether or not a bride changes her last name, some of her identity will eventually morph into her husband’s. That’s not to say she’s not her own person, it’s just that any extended time spent with another person can cause some changes. You’ve likely already witnessed it happen. Isn’t it nice to be wholly yourself?
  8. You get to meet a lot of groomsmen. This is quite a perk! Sure, some of the guys you meet are going to be pretty meh. They’re not all going to be your cup of tea, but you might just hit it off with someone else in the wedding party. And if you do, you get to spend some time together at rehearsals and the wedding itself. You can view it as no pressure date and, if you want, make plans for a real one. Hey, that’s pretty cool, isn’t it?
  9. You learn a lot about relationships. Maybe you want to get married or maybe you don’t. Either way, when you’re in a lot of weddings, you also get an up close and personal view into your friends’ relationships. You’re going to see how different couples interact if you’ve been invited to share in their wedding. If you do decide to get married or start looking for a long-term commitment, some of these relationships you will likely want to emulate. At the same time, others are going to serve as a warning of what not to do. Just don’t tell your friends that’s what you got out of their wedding…
  10. You don’t need a honeymoon as an excuse to go on vacation. One of the best things about being single is the ability to travel on a whim. You don’t need to coordinate schedules with anyone else and you won’t be wasting time trying to agree on a location. Honeymoons are great and all, but you don’t need to get married to jet set.
is a freelance lifestyle and relationship writer. She is an advocate for the childfree lifestyle and blogs about this decision on therinkydinklife.com. Brittany enjoys traveling with her husband, binge-watching Netflix, and is a little too obsessed with her two Boston Terriers.
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