Frequently Asked Questions

The bride can either have the men stand in the back foyer with the women, women on the left, or the men may come out from the groom’s room and walk halfway up the aisle to meet the women. The groomsmen may also come from the groom’s room and walk along the side aisle to the back foyer of the church to escort the bridesmaids. Preferably, all attendants come from the foyer. It makes for nice pictures coming down the aisle together, and is less for the attendants to worry about. The bride is brought from the bride’s room and taken outside to the side entrance of the church.

Processional Line Up- The flower girl and ring bearer stand behind the maid of honor. The maid of honor stands on the inside of the glass entrance doors. The other bridesmaids stand in front of her in whatever order is designated by the bride. NOTE: If the children in the processional are not able to stand through the entire ceremony please have them walk down the aisle and then sit with their grandparents or another relative to help keep your time enjoyable as well as theirs.

In front of the first set of attendants, is the mother of the bride. In front of her are the groom’s parents. Grandparents are then seated in front of the groom’s parents and the first to be escorted.

If you are looking to the front of the church from the entrance, the Groom’s family is on the right and the Bride’s family is on the left.

The grandparents walk down the aisle first. Next, the parents of the groom walk down. Traditionally, an usher escorts the women and the men walk behind. If the mothers are lighting a unity candle, the father of the groom sits down in the first pew. The mother of the groom stands by the right front pew and does not sit down. If there is not a unity candle, the parents of the groom sit down together in the first pew. The next to be escorted up are the parents of the bride. If the mothers are lighting the unity candle they will walk up the stairs together at this time and go to opposite sides of the alter and light the end candles of the unity candle. They will then walk back to the pews together and sit in their respective seats.

The groom and pastor are in the groom’s room. The men come out from the Groom’s room when the mothers are finished lighting the candles (or seated if they are not lighting the unity candle). The groom stands in front of his parents. The officiant stands on the alter carpeting or on the main floor of the church to the side.

The first bridal couple starts to walk down the aisle slowly and gracefully. As the first couple leaves the foyer area, the next couple steps up to the metal threshold in the carpeting. Remember at this point that pictures are being taken and couples need to be still. They will be seen in the background of all pictures. When the last bridal couple starts to walk, then the ushers close the doors from within the foyer. The father of the bride escorts the bride into the foyer.

On cue from the coordinator, the ushers slowly pull open the doors to the inside of the foyer as the bride walks down the aisle. The wedding coordinator fluffs the train and the doors close behind the bride as soon as her dress is out of the foyer. This reduces the backlight for the photographer. When the bride and father are down toward the front of the church and pictures are not being taken towards the back, the ushers can open the foyer doors again and go sit with their families.

At the end of the wedding the married couple walks down the aisle with the bridal attendants following in the reverse order that they walked up with. If the couple wants a receiving line they can go directly outside, or chose to have one inside. If they do not have a receiving line, the couple can walk outside and around the building to the door that enters the Groom’s room and then start taking pictures in the church. We desire pictures to be taken inside first and then outside to help with the flow of additional ceremonies that will be occurring after yours.