Everything You Need to Know About Wedding Processionals

The wedding processional is the group of people who walk down the aisle as the ceremony begins. This group includes an arrangement of the bride and groom, bridesmaids, groomsmen, ring bearers, flower girls, and family members in various orders depending on your preference.

One of the perks of modern wedding processionals is that they are extremely customizable! All of those options can feel overwhelming, but we're here to provide a guide to help you plan the most important part of your wedding day. Listed below is a standard processional ordering accompanied with details on how you can customize and change the processional to best suit you and your wedding.

Grandparents

While having family members walk down the aisle is optional, many couples like to include grandparents in the processional. The grandparents of the bride will walk down first, and the grandparents of the groom will follow. Some couples also choose to have siblings accompany the grandparents down the aisle, and then double back to walk down the aisle again if they are also in the wedding party.

This is also the place to include any other family members in the processional, such as aunts, uncles, or any siblings that may not be in the wedding party.

Parents

If grandparents and other family members aren't included in the processional, the couple's parents will walk down the aisle first. The mother of the bride walks down the aisle first, and is often accompanied by a male family member; for example, if the bride has a brother, he will often escort her down the aisle. Alternatively, she can walk with the father of the bride, and he can double back to walk the bride down the aisle at the end of the processional. The parents of the groom will follow.

Officiant and Groom

The officiant and groom often walk down the aisle at the same time, but you can choose to have them walk separately: the officiant can walk by themselves first, and the groom will follow.

Groomsmen & Bridesmaids

The order of the groomsmen and bridesmaids is incredibly customizable, but regardless of who you choose to pair together, they will typically walk in pairs starting from who will stand furthest from the couple at the altar. If you don't know how to arrange your wedding party at the altar, consider ordering and pairing couples by height. Not only will this look good in photos, it will avoid any hurt feelings that may come about if you arrange them by how close you are.

You can also choose to have each groomsmen and bridesmaids walk by themselves. In this arrangement, the groomsmen will walk first, followed by the bridesmaids. With this option, you can still arrange everyone at the altar by height as well.

Best Man & Maid/Matron of Honor

Like the groomsmen and bridesmaids, the best man and maid of honor usually walk together down the aisle before taking their respective places beside the groom and bride. However, if you plan on having your groomsmen and bridesmaids walk by themselves, the best man will walk down the aisle last with the groomsmen, and the maid of honor will walk down last with the bridesmaids.

If you don't have a ring bearer, or if you don't want your ring bearer to actually be in charge of your rings, your best man and maid of honor will be responsible for the rings instead.

Ring Bearers

Ring bearers rarely actually carry the ring down the aisle anymore, but having an honorary ring bearer or two is a great opportunity to include younger children in the family in the wedding processional. If you don't want to put them in charge of the actual ring (especially if they'e very young) opt for an empty ring box or a sign for them to hold instead.

Flower Girls

Just like ring bearers, the role of flower girls is also changing in modern processionals. While some couples still opt to have their flower girl throw petals, many choose to instead give them a bubble wand, bell, or their own miniature bouquets instead. If your ring bearers are honorary, you can also give them bubble wands or bells and have them walk with the flower girls as a group.

Bride & Father of the Bride

Although the bride's father customarily walks her down the aisle, some couples choose to change up this final part of the processional. Sometimes, both parents of the bride will walk her down the aisle.

Alternatively, the couple can walk down the aisle together, and both sets of parents can walk down at the beginning of the processional instead.

For more ceremony tips and ideas, visit our post about styling your ceremony at Brandywine!