If you sought out the counsel of a Rhodes scholar and asked them to define what a bridesmaid is, this could be the response that you would get:

"Bridesmaids are participants within the bride's marriage party. They are typically women, and their principal responsibility is to assist the bride in the time period leading up to, and including, the actual date of the wedding."

Now, if you asked a bride what she thinks a bridesmaid is, this is what she might tell you:

"Bridesmaids are my best friends in the whole world. Period."

Now, somewhere between the boring, definition-style answer and the brief bride's reply is the truth. However, if I were to venture a guess as to what a bridesmaid is, I would venture that the true definition lies somewhere in the middle. Yes, a bridesmaid does have some tried, tested and true responsibilities when it comes to helping out the bride. These may range from helping the bride pick her dress to running out and looking at potential flower arrangements to organizing rehearsal parties. These are all important "official" duties that a bridesmaid is expected to perform.

And while those are more bureaucratic chores that a bridesmaid can be expected to tackle, there are also the emotional and friendship based duties. These can range from bring a shoulder to cry on to confronting the groom and asking why he's acting like such a baby to smoothing over ruffled feathers that may arise from potential in-law battles. Bridesmaids have to play part peacemaker, part negotiator. However, while a bridesmaid is juggling many different balls and responsibilities at the same time, there's one role that she'll always play, one-hundred percent of the time.

And that role, is friend.