How to Prepare Your Processional Order
Photo Credit: Kelly Tunney
One of the most asked wedding ceremony questions we receive is, “How do I line up my wedding party for the processional?”
If we could give you one piece of advice, it’s to plan out your wedding part processional order ahead of time. Something we’ve come to realize is, the couples who plan their processional order in advance are more likely to have a smooth wedding rehearsal than those who decide the day of. Wedding rehearsals can be stressful if you aren’t prepared. Luckily, we have created a guide below to help you formulate a plan beforehand.
When you are deciding how to line up your wedding party, there are a couple of factors to take into consideration. First and foremost, what kind of ceremony are you having? Each kind of ceremony has its specific guidelines when it comes to who walks down the aisle and the order of everyone walking. Below are common religious and non-religious processional orders we have had the pleasure of coordinating.
Secular Wedding Ceremony
Grandparents
If the grandparents are included, the bride’s grandparents will enter first and sit in the first row on the left hand side of the aisle. The groom’s grandparents will follow and sit in the first row on the right hand side.
Parents
Traditionally, the mother of bride will enter, either by herself or accompanied by another family member, and will take a seat in the first row on the left hand side of the aisle. If both sets of parents are included in the procession, the groom’s parents will follow and sit in the first row on the right hand side.
Groom
Typically the groom walks down the aisle on his own and takes his place to the right of the officiant. On some occasions, the groom will be escorted by either his mother or both parents. You can also have the groom start the beginning of the processional with the parents and grandparents to follow.
If the groom is walking down the aisle with his mother/parents, we always recommend that he hug his mom/parents when they get to the front before they take their places.
Wedding Party
There are so many options and no wrong way of how you should line up your wedding party. Here are a few ways you can organize the line.
The groomsmen and bridesmaids can walk down the aisle individually. The groomsmen will enter first, starting with whoever will be standing the farthest from the groom, ending with the best man. The bridesmaids will follow, once again, starting with whoever will be standing farthest from the bride and ending with the maid/matron of honor.
If you will be sending the wedding party in pairs, start with the groomsmen and bridesmaid who is standing the farthest away from the bride and groom, working your way in, ending with the best man and maid/matron of honor. If you have an uneven number of groomsmen and bridesmaids, you can get creative with how they walk down the aisle. You can have one groomsman escort two bridesmaids or have two bridesmaids walk together.
Ring bearer and flower girl
The ring bearer and flower girl go before the bride down the aisle. They can walk down the aisle together or separate. Traditionally, the ring bearer will carry the rings and hand it off to the best man when he reaches the front and the flower girls will carry a basket of petals. If the ring bearer is too young, we suggest giving the rings to the Best Man while the ring bearer carries a decoy or cute sign. It is not required to have both, and it is common for couples have one or the other.
Bridal Walk Escort
It is tradition that the bride’s father will escort his daughter down the aisle. With that being said, we’ve seen brides escorted by their mother, grandfather, stepfather, brother, and even go solo. Whoever you want to walk with you is completely up to you.
We will always advise our bride to hug mom/parents when they get to the front, before the groom shakes their hands (or hugs them) and takes the bride’s hand to lead her to the altar.
There are so many options on how to organize the processional walk. If you are still unsure, this is our favorite order below:
Groom and mom/parents
Grandparents
Bride’s mom and family member escort
Bridesmaids and groomsmen in pairs
Maid of Honor and Best Man
Flower Girl and Ring Bearer
Bride and father/parents
Photo Credit: Etcetera Photo
Christian Wedding Ceremony
Groom’s parents
Mother of bride
Officiant
Groom and Best Man
Bridesmaids and Groomsmen
Maid/Matron of Honor
The Ring Bearer and Flower Girl
The Bride and Father of Bride
Catholic Wedding Ceremony
Priest, Groom, and Best Man - Enter through side door of church and wait at the altar
Groomsmen
Groom’s parents
Bridesmaids
Maid of Honor
The Ring Bearer and Flower Girl
The Bride and Father of Bride
For some catholic ceremonies, it is very common for “Sponsors” to also walk down the aisle during the procession. In these instances, the Sponsors will walk down after the parents and before the wedding party.
Photo Credit: June Photo
Jewish Wedding Ceremony
Rabi or cantor
Grandparents of the Bride
Grandparents of the Groom
Groomsmen
Best Man
Groom
Bridesmaids
Maid of Honor
Ring Bearer and Flower Girl
The Bride and her parents
If you are unsure of the processional order of your religion, schedule a meeting with your officiant, priest, pastor, or rabi to get an understanding of what the traditional order is and if/what details you can customize.
During the wedding rehearsal, it is important to make sure that everyone walking knows the order and is aware of little details to remember for the wedding day. Below are some tips and advice for preparing your wedding party at the rehearsal.
Photo Credit: Alice Ahn Photography
Presentation
Remind everyone to smile. Although it is great to be focused on the walk and making sure you don’t mess up, it is important to remember to have fun. It is a celebration after all!
Spacing
Make sure to space each group beforehand. This will depend on how long the walk is and how fast they walk, but use your best judgement. It should feel like each pair has their own photo op.
Cue to start walking
If you do not have a wedding planner on the wedding day to cue each group, make sure everyone knows when it’s their turn to go. Pick a location during the rehearsal that will cue the next group to walk. Typically we recommend the next group to start walking when the group before hits the beginning of the aisle, however, this will depend on how long the walk is and how fast everyone is walking. Use your best judgement.
Once the last of the bridal party gets to the front, that will be the cue for the DJ or live musician to change the song for the bride to walk down the aisle. (Don’t forget to have someone fix your train and veil behind you!)
With so many variations, the wedding processional order can be confusing to coordinate. We hope that this breakdown will help you check off this task from your wedding checklist sooner. We recommend creating a list or diagram prior to the wedding rehearsal to ensure it runs as smooth as possible. Just remember that if you are not following a religious ceremony, there are no rules. Just do what you feel is right!