Wedding Ceremony - Who Stands Where

Rachel & Jeremy's ceremony at Churon Winery. Photo: Dave White of Photo Catering

The Wedding Ceremony. It's the reason why your family and friends gather on your big day. So much attention and time are spent on making sure the reception is flawless. But what about the ceremony itself? Have you thought about how it will go smoothly? Who stands where? What is the processional order? How should your bridal party enter? Who is going to make sure it's flawless?

More than half of weddings in Southern California are not held at a religous site, such as a church or synagogue. Do you know if your venue manager is going to work out the logistics? A wedding rehearsal is the time and place to work out all the details.

I give all of my clients a ceremony diagram they can fill out long before the rehearsal. This takes all the stress out of deciding who will stand where, and the order in which they process and recess. By doing so, the rehearsal will only last one hour, and you and your loved ones can get to dinner. The best part is..everyone knows exactly what to do on the wedding day.

The reason I wrote this post is to save your sanity. At a recent wedding, there were 24 members of the bridal party, not including parents and the bride and groom. They did not decide the logistic prior to the wedding. Therefore the rehearsal was chaos. Many of the groomsmen didn't attend, many members were late, and no one knew who should stand where. I learned alot that day. I don't want you to go through the same experience. If you have a planner at your venue or church, provide them with the information they need to ensure your rehearsal is efficient and a success. Need some help? Check out this link http://weddings.about.com/od/yourweddingceremony/a/Processional.htm  to plan ahead.

Tips for a successful ceremony:

• Have a rehearsal.
• If your rehearsal is at 5pm, tell everyone it's at 4:30 pm. This ensures you start on time, and get to dinner on time.
• Decide prior to the rehearsal who will stand where, who will escort your grandmother and mother, etc.
• Have a plan for flower girls and ring bearers. If they have a meltdown on wedding day, plan for it. Seat their parents close to the front row. They may need to sit with them instead of standing front and center.
• Who will hold the rings?
• If possible, have your officiant attend the rehearsal to help facilitiate their way of doing things.
• Bring a stand in bouquet. Your maid of honor will need to know when to take it from you.

Practice makes perfect.You take so much time to plan all the perfect details of your dream day. Make sure that the reason your guest gather "to see your union" goes smoothly.