The bride and her family are traditionally held responsible for the bulk of the wedding and the planning it entails. This includes the reception; most of the flowers; the transportation; the photos and/or video; the music; the dress; and the invitations and announcements.

You're thinking, “Whew! That about covers everything. Guess I'm off the hook.”

Hold your horses. There are certain responsibilities every groom must address. These include:

The bride's engagement ring and wedding band

Marriage license/officiant's fee

Your wedding wear

Gift for the bride

Honeymoon

Traditionally, the groom's family also pays for the bride's flowers, boutonnieres for groomsmen, corsages for mothers/grandmothers, and for the rehearsal dinner. And since most couples these days tackle the wedding planning themselves, you may just find yourself taking on the services that used to lie strictly in Bride Territory, such as finding a good caterer. (More on this in Chapter 5.)

In this day and age, you and your bride might find yourselves scoffing at the “traditional” division of wedding duties, since you may be living together and planning on paying for everything out of one communal bank account specifically set aside for the wedding expenses. However you choose to take care of business is your business; but if the bride starts feeling a little overwhelmed, you may want to step in and take over where tradition dictates. Many, many brides are happy to plan the whole wedding; some really want help from their man. You know your bride best; do what works for the two of you.