Here in the US of A, there are basically two options when it comes to planning a wedding...
1) You bite the bullet and hire a professional planner.
2) You DIY it—hopefully with a generous assist from your loved ones.
Both are swell options, but let's call a spade a spade here: Planners are pricey and DIY'ing is stressful as all hell.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could, like, hire a planner for free?
Enter: the Dutch tradition of "Masters of Ceremony." A Scandinavian colleague recently filled us in on this rather genius mainstay and we just had to spread the word stateside.
As she explained it, Dutch couples typically forgo a wedding planner and ask their best friends in the wedding party to be the two "masters of ceremony" instead. "It's like having a second job," she told us of the role. "[They] arrange everything for the bride and groom in the months leading up to the wedding." While time-consuming, she also noted that it's an amazing time of bonding for the couple and their friends.
Think of it like how Americans "propose" to their maids of honor and best men. Except instead of planning the bachelorette/bachelor parties, they're expected to plan the whole damn wedding when accepting the role.
TBD on whether your BFF would be up for it—or a good planner for that matter, but honestly, what greater gift could you ask for? (And we're betting Dutch weddings are fabulously personalized as a result.)
