In all the excitement of organizing your wedding day, finding a dress, finding a location, the details of the ceremony get forgotten in the shuffle. When this happens, decisions are often made by the officiant, parents, or friends. This blog provides the information you need to examine concerning your ceremony beforehand, to ensure that it reflects your desires.
It is essential to identify that the ceremony is where your marriage and life as a couple begins. Your ceremony is the most significant part of your wedding day. It is the aspect which you should give just as much attention and time, if not more than everything else. Skilled wedding planners experienced in coordinating and directing the rehearsal and ceremony take care of the details of the correct order of events for the service, which offers the couples and their families less stress.
Seating of the Parents and Grandparents
Parents and Grandparents are all escorted and seated before the procession of the wedding party. The seating order is the groom's grandparents, the bride's grandparents, the groom's parents, and then the bride's parents. You may want to choose family members or groomsmen to escort them. It is also acceptable for the groom to escort his mother. The bride's mother is the last to be escorted to their seat, which signals that the processional is about to begin.
The Processional
Confirm beforehand the order in which the wedding party will proceed down the aisle, as well as who will be escorted, and by whom. The order and escort choices for the processional are many. Discuss with your wedding planner your options and decide on the one that best fits with your vision and your ceremony site.
While it has been custom for the bride's father to escort the bride down the aisle, it is quite acceptable to have both parents escort the bride. If the bride and groom have children, their children could escort them down the aisle. It is also admissible for the bride to walk down the aisle alone. If the father of the bride is deceased, her mother, brother, uncle, or special friend may escort the bride.
After the bride's mother is seated, the officiant, groom, and best man enter. The groomsmen and bridesmaids may enter in pairs, or groomsmen may enter, followed by the bridesmaids, or alternating groomsmen and bridesmaids. After the bridesmaids and groomsmen enter, then the maid/matron of honor follows. The ring bearer and flower girl are last before the bride, who is escorted by her father, on his left arm.
If the ceremony venue has two aisles, the wedding party proceeds down the left side aisle and recedes up the right aisle. You could also have the groomsmen enter down one side aisle, and the bridesmaids enter down the opposite aisle. The maid/matron of honor, ring bearer, flower girl, and the bride would enter on the left side. After the flower girl goes down the aisle when possible, the doors close before the bride walks down the aisle.
The bride and her escort walk down with the bride on their left arm. Guests may stand or remain seated during the bride's entrance. Either way is appropriate. Proper etiquette is for the guests to go by the mother of the bride's lead.
Recessional For the recessional, the wedding party always recesses in the reverse order in which they entered, which is the bride and groom, the flower girl and ring bearer, the maid of honor and best man, bridesmaids, and the groomsmen walking in pairs. Parents and grandparents recess out in the reverse order, which is bride's parents, groom's parents, bride's grandparents, and groom's grandparents. The officiant then releases the guests. At larger weddings, it is appropriate for groomsmen to stand and release the guests by rows beginning with the rows at the front of the venue.
Children
There are many meaningful ways to include children in the ceremony. Older Children can serve as Junior Bridesmaids or Junior Groomsmen. They may wear similar attire to the other members of the bridal party and fulfill many of the same roles as they do. An excellent way to include younger children is serving as the Flower Girl or the Ring Bearer.
For a child whose parent is getting married, it is nice to incorporate them into the ceremony. Ways this might be accomplished is by asking the officiant to mention their names, participating in a unity ceremony or ring ceremony, or including them in the wedding party.
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