I have a question about wedding processions. We
aren't sure how the procession should take place. The wedding will be outdoors
in a very small garden and the ceremony will take place in a small gazebo. The
people in the wedding consist of: father of the bride, groom, bride, best man,
maid of honor, two flower girls, ring bearer, coin bearer, couple that
presents the veil and the couple that presents the cord. How would one
determine the best procession with the listed people given. Also, in an
outdoor wedding, how would the bride and everyone else enter the ceremony?
This sort of location does make the processional a little awkward
sometimes, but you have to just look at the options and figure what will
work most smoothly.
In outdoor weddings, generally, the bridal party enters the garden from
a building on the grounds (house, chapel, anteroom, etc.) And
generally, this works out okay, because a gazebo usually is set in the
garden so that the entrance faces the buildings, and usually there's
space in between for guests. Hopefully, you have a situation somewhat
like this.
There doesn't have to be a center aisle between guests, if that's not
practical. The procession could take place more in front of guests than
between, if that works better (depending on the angle where the bride
will come from and the number and placement of guest chairs.) Sometimes
it's silly, logistically speaking to have the procession start from the
back, just because that's how it works in a church.
You want to make it so the bridal party doesn't just walk out of the
house and into the gazebo, but you also don't need to route them
awkwardly to make a long processional. You can use your judgment based
on your circumstances to determine the route.
The big thing is that generally the music is cued when the bridal party
is likely to be seen by the guests. Some folks feel odd enough walking
in a bridal processional anyway, without doing it in silence when it's
obvious they are being watched. So the music is something I would try
to work out carefully. All members of the bridal party should have
music most of the time they are in view.
The bride's music, if different for her "entrance", should also start at
the time guests are first able to see her. The music should also last
until she's made it to the place where her father will give her away. So you
will need to walk through the processional routine several times
in advance (to the actual music, if it's recorded) to make sure there
isn't an uncomfortable silence as she gets to the gazebo area-- or that
there's an uncomfortably long time to stand there while the music
finishes.
As for the order of the processional, I have to admit, I have not worked
with couples who have used the coin, veil and cord bearers, so I don't
know if there's a traditional processional order for them. But, again,
you have a small wedding in an unusual setting, so I think it's
perfectly legitimate to use some discretion in planning the logistics
of this.
In general, the groom awaits the bride at the "altar", so in this case,
he and the minister/officiant should approach the gazebo first. These
two people may well be outside as the guests arrive, so it's up to you
how "ceremonial" their official entrance will be. I like to have the
groom move to the side or back of the area of an outdoor wedding when
it's about time to begin, so that guests see that things are starting,
and so that he and the minister have a little bit of ceremony in their
approach to the "altar" area.
The best man should probably enter with the groom and minister, although
he could escort the maid of honor during the main if preferred. This
would look fine, especially since you have two other couples in the
processional, too.
The other processional members you mention should all probably enter
from the same location and by the same route as one another. In a
traditional processional, the maid of honor follows other bridesmaids
and groomsmen. But since there are no other attendants, she would
traditionally be first, followed by the ring bearer, flower girls, and
the bride and her father.
In your situation. I think the thing to do with the couples who present
the veil and cord, is to think through the order of the service, as well
as the arrangement of where the bridal party members will stand in the
gazebo area, to determine what processional order might work out most
smoothly.
I would assume that these two couples would stand up with the rest of
the bridal party through the service (if they don't, they need not be in
the processional, in my opinion-- they could just get up from their
seats at the appropriate time.) However, for most of the service, the
maid of honor and best man have more pressing duties.
So I would envision an arrangement of bridal party which puts the bride
and groom at the center of the group, best man and maid of honor next to
them on the appropriate sides, the two couples for veil and cord next to
them (probably veil couple on bride's side, cord couple on the groom's),
then the flower girls next on the bride's side, ring and coin bearers
together on the groom's.
For this sort of arrangement-- just to give you an idea for whatever
order you decide on-- I personally would either have the maid of honor
come first (with or without the best man as discussed above), then have
them come in the order I mentioned them (with groom's side attendants
going before the bride's side, as with other people including mothers).
Or you could reverse the order and have the children first, then have
the couples, then the maid/best man. What you want is for each
attendant (or pair of attendants) to be able to walk directly to their
place, not go around anyone else.
Whatever order will accomplish that best, is usually the best
processional order. : )
Foreverwed.com expert-- Sara L. Ambarian
author of "A Bride's Touch: A Handbook of Wedding Personality and
Inspiration"/ creative consultant/ custom bridal designer
mailto:sara@www.foreverwed.com
For more wedding information:
http://www.foreverwed.com/~sara
|
message
boards
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)