When is the processional in a wedding

If the mother of the groom wants her son to escort her down the aisle, then his father will follow right behind. The mother of the bride: If the MOB is not escorting her daughter down the aisle, she comes next in the processional order. Her son or another male family member like her brother or favorite nephew can walk with her. The father of the bride may also escort his wife, before returning to the back of the ceremony site to usher in the bride.

If the parents get along, they may choose to sit together. The best man walks in last, as he'll be standing closest to the groom. The groom: The groom doesn't always walk down the aisle either; he can enter from the side right before the processional music starts to play along with his guys. If he does choose to walk, he makes his entrance right after his best man gets to the front of the ceremony site.

The officiant : Often the officiant does not process, entering from the side of the ceremony site before the processional music begins to play.

But sometimes couples choose to honor their officiant with a spot in the wedding processional, right after the groom takes his place. The bridesmaids : Next up? The 'maids. The lovely ladies walk in the reverse order that they'll be standing during the ceremony. They can walk in pairs or alone, with the maid or matron of honor entering last and typically alone. The bride's walk down the aisle is always one of the highlights of a wedding ceremony , but a few other important people like members of the bridal party, the mother of the bride, and officiant prep the runway before the girl in the white dress makes their grand entrance.

Different types of weddings employ different processional orders , so we're breaking down who should walk when to familiarize yourself with the different possibilities and to ensure your bridal march runs as smoothly as possible.

The wedding processional refers to the group of people walking down the aisle in a specific order to mark the beginning of a wedding ceremony. The processional often includes a permutation of the officiant, the wedding party, flower girls, ring bearers, and the bride and groom and their parents. Aside from the processional order, which people are involved and where they are seated vary depending on the type of religious wedding service.

Jewish weddings, for instance, have both parties' grandparents walking down the aisle. While for Hindu weddings, the parents are more involved in the processional and the bride's parents even sit with them under the traditional mandap. Meet the Expert. If you want to switch things up and have more control over the processional, a nondenominational wedding may be more suited for you.

Check out our ultimate wedding processional order guide below to help you with your processional needs. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for Brides. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Photo: Judah Avenue The order of your processional and recessional will depend on the type of wedding ceremony you're having: religious, civil, military. Christian Wedding Ceremony Most Christian wedding processionals and recessionals follow the same basic order, with the exception of the Catholic wedding ceremony, where the bride's father escorts her to the altar but does not give her away before taking his seat.

Order in a Christian wedding ceremony is: Officiant stands at the altar Groom and best man enter from a side door and stand at the altar Bridesmaids and ushers walk in pairs if there are uneven numbers, the odd person can walk alone, or two maids or groomsmen can walk together.

The maid or matron of honor walks alone The ring bearer walks alone, followed by the flower girl, or the children can walk together. The bride and her father proceed, with the bride on her father's right arm At the altar, the bride stands on the left, the groom on the right, facing the officiant. Jewish Wedding Ceremony Jewish wedding processionals and recessionals will vary with religious sects and local practices, but still follow a basic order: Rabbi and cantor stand at the altar Bride's grandparents proceed Groom's grandparents proceed Ushers proceed in pairs Best man walks alone, after the ushers The groom proceeds with his parents father on his left arm, mother on his right Bridesmaids proceed in pairs Maid or matron of honor walks alone, after the bridesmaids Ring bearer walks Flower girl walks Finally, the bride proceeds with her parents father on her left arm, mother on her right The Jewish wedding ceremony takes place around a wedding canopy, called a chuppah , under which the bride, groom, best man and maid of honor stand.

Civil Ceremony While there is no set order for a civil ceremony, a couple might borrow procedures from a religious ceremony, or create their own. Military Wedding Since military weddings can be civil or religious ceremonies, their orders will vary.

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