Difference between funerals and memorials
Because She Would Ask Me Why I Loved Her wedding readingThe wedding processional
After the celebrant’s housekeeping, the wedding processional is the official opening of the wedding ceremony. Traditionally (in a straight wedding), the groom and his attendants will be waiting at the top of the aisle with the celebrant. Music will start to play. The flower girls will enter. The bridesmaids will enter one at a time. Finally, the bride makes her grand entrance, escorted by her father. But is that the only option we have for a wedding processional in the 21st century? Absolutely not!
Marriage equality
First, a word on marriage equality and gender-blind processionals. In many couples that get married these days there is no bride; sometimes there is no groom; sometimes there’s no bride OR groom. That doesn’t mean that any of the options discussed here aren’t relevant to some couples. Every option can be adapted to fit with any combination of gender identities. I’m going to refer to Partner 1 and Partner 2 throughout, and you can replace either one with each of your names!
Wedding parties
There are as many versions of weddings parties as there are marrying couples. Throughout this post I’m going to talk about Partner 1’s attendants and Partner 2’s attendants. Attendants is my catch-all, gender-neutral term for groomsmen, bridesmaids, groomsmaids, bridesmen, flower girls, ring bearers, and whoever else might be involved in a wedding party. Replace “attendants” with whoever you’re having standing with you on your big day!
If you’re not having a wedding party at all, just ignore all references to attendants 🙂
A note on aisle escort/s
As with everything wedding ceremony planning, there are no rules when it comes to choosing who (if anyone) escorts you down the aisle. I have seen all of the following escort a marrying party down the aisle:
- dads
- mums
- dads and mums
- children
- dads and step-dads
- aunts/uncles
- siblings
- grandparents.
You can have one escort or multiple escorts. If you’re having multiple escorts, they might need to escort you down different sections of the aisle, depending on the space. It’s all about what works for you, and the rehearsal is a great time to figure out how it’s going to work.
Wedding processional options
Processional option 1
First we have the most traditional one. Partner 1 and their attendants are already in place at the top of the aisle with the celebrant. Partner 2’s attendants enter to music, followed by Partner 2 and their escort/s.
Processional option 2
Next, how about all attendants being in place at the top of the aisle with the celebrant, and both partners enter together to music.
Processional option 3
Or maybe nobody is in place before the ceremony. The attendants enter in pairs to music (one of Partner 1’s attendants with one of Partner 2’s attendants), followed by both partner together.
Processional option 4
Another version with nobody in place before the ceremony has the attendants from each side entering alternately (so Partner 1’s first attendant, then Partner 2’s first attendant, then Partner 1’s second attendant, etc), followed by each of the partners with their escort/s.
Processional option 5
A final version with nobody in place before the ceremony sees Partner 1’s attendants enter one by one, then Partner 1 with their escort/s, followed by Partner 2’s attendants one by one and Partner 2 with their escort/s.
Processional option 6
No processional at all! Everyone is just there and ready to get started.
See? Loads of different options for the wedding processional. There are probably even more that I haven’t thought of or seen before. How are you going to enter your ceremony?
More information
Click here to find an overview of a traditional Australian wedding ceremony.
Click on this link to find all the posts in my series about Australian wedding ceremonies.
Click on this link to find all the posts in my series about marriage legalities.