Heartwarming Father of the Bride Duties to Give Your Dad

When you picture your wedding day and how your dad will fit in, your immediate thought might be the walk down the aisle or the father-daughter dance. These are both lovely traditions that will surely highlight your relationship.

However, if you’re looking for other ways to involve your father in the wedding, here are some traditional and non-traditional father of the bride responsibilities that your dad can take on:

Father of the Bride Duties Before the Wedding

The perfect wedding day isn’t just magically made, it’s planned. Amidst all the wedding planning, some things are bound to get a little chaotic. This is the perfect time for the father of the bride to help the couple.

While it is traditionally the father of the bride’s responsibility to pay for wedding expenses, a lot of couples opt to use their own money to pay for their wedding. If your dad has some space in his budget, there’s really no harm in letting him pay for some of the expenses. However, the financial aspect aside, there are other ways your dad can help. Here are some of the things that your father might want to do for you instead:

Help Out with the Paperwork

There’s no doubt about it: planning a wedding involves an endless amount of paperwork. Whether it’s for official wedding documents or contracts with suppliers, asking your dad to add “helping out with the paperwork” in his official father of the bride responsibilities is not a bad idea. After all, he’s already experienced getting married and probably knows his way around these things.

Fathers of the bride are also good negotiators for wedding suppliers and other contacts. Since they are close with the couple, the father of the bride can help negotiate deals and finalize contracts with concerned parties to help out you and your partner. If you don’t want your father splurging on your wedding, but he insists on doing so, this can be your compromise instead!

Organize the Wedding Registry

Curating a list of the wedding gifts might not seem like a father of the bride duty, but your parents can provide some valuable insight on what you’ll need as a young couple. Ask your mom and dad about the things they needed most when they got married and you’ve got yourself a list of useful wedding gift ideas for your registry.

Provide Emotional Support

At the end of the day, your dad’s most important father of the bride responsibility is to be your rock. Wedding planning can be exhausting, and there will be days where you just want to rest. During those day, never forget that there are people who can help you. Your fiancée, your entourage, your mother, and your father are just some of the people you can depend on.

Father of the Bride Wedding Day To-Do List

Your wedding day will definitely be an emotional moment. On the actual wedding day, the responsibilities of the father of the bride are fairly straightforward, so you and your father don’t have to worry too much. Still, a few moments before the start of your day will be the best time to check up on how your dad is feeling. Outside of his duties as the father of the bride, have a heart-to-heart and show him your appreciation for everything he’s done.

Traditionally, the father of the bride hosts the wedding. With the couple busy with their own preparations and celebrations, one of the father of the bride’s responsibilities is to make sure that guests are entertained and that the day goes off without a hitch. Other than that, here are the main duties of the father of the bride on the wedding day:

Walk the Bride Down the Aisle

If you come from a traditional household, you probably know that it’s the father of the bride’s duty to “give away” the daughter in marriage. While the practice does come from a rather antiquated and patriarchal tradition, many modern brides still choose to walk down the aisle with their fathers. For them, it is not about being “given away,” but rather it is a sign of love, respect, and support from both sides.

Some brides, on the other hand, choose to give this father of bride responsibility to both parents. After all, both parents had a hand in raising the bride. Another twist in this wedding tradition is that brides meet their fathers halfway down the aisle instead.

Whatever way you choose to spin this father-daughter tradition, it’s important that you talk to your dad about it.

The Father-Daughter Dance 

A common part of any wedding reception program is the father-daughter dance. Similar to the tradition of walking the bride down the aisle, father-daughter dances come from a rather patriarchal background. Back then, the father of the bride had a duty to give the bride away. Apart from the walk down the aisle, the father-daughter dance was another way for fathers to show their approval of the marriage.

Nowadays, this tradition has been spun around to show a more sentimental side. Historically danced first, the father-daughter dance is now performed after the couple’s first dance. Today, it’s a way for brides to share a moment with their fathers and to thank them for their love and support.

Although traditionally a slow dance, the father-daughter dance can be anything you and your dad want it to be! Go traditional with a slow dance or flex those awesome dance moves with an upbeat dance number. Whatever it is, this dance is meant to be a fun and wholesome moment for you and your father.

Father of the Bride Wedding Speech

The bride’s father is expected to make a wedding toast in honor of the newly wed couple. Wedding toasts for the father of the bride are usually a small anecdote of their daughter’s childhood and well wishes for the couple. Every father has a different way of making a toast, but make sure to carry tissues, because these wedding speeches can be quite emotional.

If your dad is struggling to find the right words, he can look through our guide to wedding reception speeches for some inspiration. It might also help if you give him a guideline of what topics are not allowed in his reception speech. If you don’t want to relive your adorable but embarrassing elementary stories in the father of the bride toast, then give your dad a heads up!

Father of the Bride Wedding Performance

This one’s not really a father of the bride responsibility, but it is a cute way to get your father involved during the reception program. If your dad is musically inclined, you can ask him to perform a song or two for your wedding. Bonus points if this ends up as a father-daughter performance!

Father of the Bride Responsibilities After the Wedding

 There’s a lot less going on after the wedding, but that doesn’t mean everything’s done. Although the happy couple may be going off to spend some alone time in their honeymoon, the father of the bride has some responsibilities left to fulfill.

Close shop

 Although the reception is a celebration of the couple’s wedding, it’s usually the parents who close the reception. The mother and father of the bride’s duties usually include overseeing the closing of the reception and making sure that all the wedding gifts are properly delivered to the couple’s home. Take note that you should talk with your parents if they’re okay with doing this!

Clean Up Duty

 No, not in the literal sense! Weddings often borrow a lot of paraphernalia from venues, caterers, and even gown and tux rentals. If you and your spouse will be going away immediately after your wedding, it’s always a good idea to find a point person to take care of things in your absence. This can be the father of the bride’s responsibility as well, especially if he helped with the wedding negotiations during the planning stage.

Keeping the Fort

 Perhaps it’s just a father thing, but some dads can’t help but take care of their kids. Some dads take it upon themselves to make sure that everything’s in working order in the couple’s home before they arrive from their honeymoon. This isn’t necessarily a duty of the father of the bride, but a great way to include your dad is to ask for his help in things he’s good at. Besides, who else would you trust to keep the fort but your dependable dad?

Spend Time With Your Father

When it comes to weddings, fathers may not be the first go-to person for wedding planning concerns for most brides. That job usually goes to the mom. However, just like when you were growing up, your dad will be there to provide support and wisdom throughout the entire process. Besides, your dad probably wants to spend a few more moments with his beloved daughter before you finally leave the nest for good! Giving your dad some simple father of the bride responsibilities is a great way to involve him in the wedding and to spend some quality father-daughter bonding time with him as well.