Tips for your wedding processional

The entrance of the bride and her attendants is the first “wow” moment of a wedding.

Fortunately, it is so easy to ensure that you make your entrance with style and simultaneously give your photographer every opportunity to capture the moment in fabulous photos.

On the other hand, it is all too easy to get it so wrong that the whole thing degenerates into a mess.

If you follow a few easy rules, however, your professional will proceed smoothly, allowing you to enjoy the moment.

• Know where your belly button is. Hold your bouquet in the middle of the stems or handle, hold your hand against your belly button, and ensure your bridesmaids do the same for a coordinated look.
• Put your hand lightly in the crook of your father’s elbow. While the “traditional” position is for the bride to be on her escort’s left side so that he has his right arm free to draw his sword to defend her, wearing swords isn’t a normal part of Australian weddings. So, choose your side with your final destination in mind. How will the bridal party be arranged for the ceremony? Sometimes, it makes more sense for the bride to walk down the aisle on her father’s right arm.
• Space yourselves. Allow a minimum of 3-5 paces between each member of the bridal party as you walk down the aisle to give everyone her moment and to ensure that you don’t all bunch up. Your photographer will appreciate it.
• Smile and look at the guests and, of course, your groom. Astonishingly, many brides and bridesmaids look at their feet or dead ahead without a glimmer of a smile. Your guests are there to welcome you, so smile and greet them as you go by.
• At all costs, avoid the hesitation step. Laughingly dubbed the “stagger step” by one of America’s top wedding planners, the hesitation step is a recipe for disaster. Occasionally, older family members or others in the wedding industry will advise a bridal party that walking down the aisle by taking a step and then bringing the feet together before taking the next step is the proper way to walk. It isn’t. The stagger step throws you off balance, can make you wobble or stagger, particularly if you’re wearing high heels, and doesn’t look anywhere near as elegant as a casual stroll down the aisle.
• Don’t forget to kiss your Dad. When you get to the top of the aisle, give your father a kiss before you take your place next to your groom. It makes for a tender and photogenic moment.

About Author Jennifer Cram
Jennifer Cram is a high-credential Brisbane marriage celebrant known for her creative approach to the development of unique, personal, and creative wedding and commitment ceremonies. Appreciated by couples for the meaningful simplicity of the ceremony and by photographers for their attention to the visual aspects, Jennifer Cram devotes many hours to ensuring that each ceremony reflects the love and the values of the couple and the warmth of their relationship with family and friends. In 2009 and 2010, she was voted one of Queensland’s top celebrants at the Australian Bridal Industry Academy Awards with a rating of 99.62% by couples she had married.