The wedding processional is a tradition almost as old as time. The traditional wedding processional varies by culture and religion. All these traditions are beautiful and meaningful; however, many couples today differ or vary from the traditional. Your wedding processional should be as special and tailored to you as all the other elements of your big day, so here is a step-by-step of how to go about including all the special people in your life in your wedding processional!
Step 1: Make a list of everyone you want to walk down the aisle. There are many options to fix this later! Step 2: Decide who will escort the bride down the aisle. This is the most important step. Step 3: Who is officiating your wedding? Are they walking down the aisle? If yes, when and with an escort? Determining this will help you start to determine your processional order. Step 4: Start in the middle.
I know, it sounds weird, but starting with the bridal party will make everything else easier. First, determine how many bridesmaids and groomsmen you have and if they will be walking in pairs or not. If they are walking in pairs, assign them to one another in the order you would like them to stand up at the ceremony site start furthest from you and end with closest to you.
If they are not walking in pairs, how are they walking? We have seen every other bridesmaid, groomsman, bridesmaid, groomsman, etc. Fill in these roles with the names of your list you made in step 1. Step 6: Move around the line-up as needed to personalize it to your needs!
Step 7: After you have the order and special details taken care of, go back through the list and assign escorts to those who may need it. For example, say dad is walking the bride down the aisle, then a younger sibling, cousin, or family friend can walk with your mom. It is also totally acceptable for people to walk by themselves if they and you are comfortable with it. Step 8: The last step is to write it down in an order you and your coordinator can understand. We like to use the sheet below and number each pair.
