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Forming Your Wedding Party
Let the wedding celebration set the mood for your life to come and make it a statement of your personal style. Fill it with your favorite people, food, music and flowers. It is a day for sharing love, happiness and traditions with those closest to you.
A wedding is one of life's most joyous celebrations.
With careful planning and attention to detail you can craft the wedding you want, but with less stress and guesswork. Use this web site as your source of information. It will walk you through the necessary steps of planning, ordering and arranging for a memorable event. The wedding suppliers and merchants listed in the local merchant section for your city can expertly guide you in making critical decisions, thus allowing you and your loved ones to enjoy the process.
The historical traditions that you will find reference throughout this website will
impart a sense of timelessness, beauty and romance that have always been associated with weddings. This can and should be one of the most exciting times of your life. Savor your special day and carry the momentum of this happy occasion with you in your life together as a couple.
Weddings are as special and unique as the bride and groom themselves. There are so many lovely customs to choose from and so many ways to plan a celebration that make it yours and in times past. Careful planning will help make your wedding the best it can be.
The type of wedding you choose will reflect your taste and style. Will it be a formal, semiformal or informal event? Will you have a religious or civil ceremony? What kind of location and time of day do you prefer? Which traditions do you want to keep in the wedding? What is your budget?
Planning your wedding together is an exercise in thinking as a couple. You and your groom will make many decisions together; as well as negotiating and compromising with everyone from wedding vendors to attendants, guests and parents. Remember, the bride and groom set the standard for graciousness and courtesy on this monumental occasion.
The Wedding Party
Selecting attendants for the wedding is one of the earliest planning decisions you will make. The choices may be simple and quick or require great tact and consideration. Traditionally the bride's sister or best friend is the maid of honor (matron of honor if married) while the groom selects his brother or best
friend as best man. Other attendants may include one or more bridesmaids and groomsmen chosen from close friends. A groom's sister may be invited to serve as a bridesmaid or the bride's brother may be a groomsman.
The number of attendants you have will generally depend on the size and formality of the wedding. In a more formal wedding you may choose to include a ring bearer (a child usually between the ages of three and six) and a flower girl (age four to ten.) In Victorian times, three or four young girls served as bridesmaids, a custom still followed in European weddings and in British royal weddings.
Brides were once believed to be especially vulnerable to jealous evil spirits. To fool the spirits, their best friends would dress up like the bride and the groom's friends would dress like him. Thus was born the wedding party!
Maid of Honor
The Maid or Matron of Honor is a source of support and help to the bride. On the wedding day she will help the bride dress and during the ceremony she holds the groom's ring, the bride's bouquet, adjusts the veil and train, and signs the marriage license as a witness.
Bridesmaids
Bridesmaids may help the bride with errands and participate in pre-wedding parties and showers. On the wedding day, bridesmaids stand in the receiving line and mingle with guests at the reception.
Flower Girl
The Flower Girl, generally between the ages of four and ten, carries a decorated basket on her arm and walks down the aisle just before the bride, sprinkling fresh flower petals for the bride to walk on.
The Best Man
The Best Man offers the same degree of support and help, but to the groom. He helps take care of any last minute details, and may host the bachelor party. At the
ceremony he holds the bride's ring and signs the marriage license as a witness. At the reception he traditionally offers the first toast to the couple, and dances with the bride and her attendants.
Ushers
Ushers offer assistance to the groom, help the best man with the bachelor party and escort guests to their seats before the ceremony. At the reception they dance with the bridesmaids and mingle with other guests.
Ring Bearer
The Ring bearer, usually a young boy between three and six, precedes the flower girl down the aisle carrying a satin pillow on which two rings have been sewn. These rings are symbolic, as the best man and maid of honor have the real wedding rings.