JP REYNOLDS WEDDING BLOG!

How To Stay Sane While Planning for Your Wedding!

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Solving The Politics Of Walking Down The Aisle



During a recent meeting with a couple, I asked the bride if she wanted to be escorted down the aisle by her just her father or her father and mother.  She quickly glanced at her fiancé and hesitated in such a way that I knew something was up.  Turns out, she and her parents are in a strained period of their relationship.  And while they’re going to attend the wedding, there’s not a lot of warm, fuzzy love going round.  The bride asked if she could just walk down the aisle alone.

Basically, she and her fiancé can do whatever they want—hey, this is their wedding!  However, my experience has been that no matter the length of the aisle it is an ENORMOUS walk for any bride to do alone.

And so we came up with an easy and, I think, elegant solution.  The groom’s parents will walk down first, followed by the bride’s parents.  The groom will stand on the aisle at the top last row and wait for the bride as she makes the walk, on her own, from the back holding room.  Then, together, they’ll walk down the aisle.

Given that they’re paying for the wedding and have been together almost five years, there is a symbolic logic to their walking together at the beginning of the ceremony.

Different?  Yes, this is not traditional.  However, this solves the “problem” of how to tell her father that she doesn’t want him to walk her down the aisle.  More importantly, the bride honors her feelings and she and her fiancé have a ceremony that speaks to their integrity as a couple.

Trust me: there is a simple and elegant “solution” to any and all problems you may encounter in the planning of your wedding.

1 comment:

benilhalk said...

That’s outstanding. We also would be marrying soon and have to find a good location for our DIY wedding ceremony. Our dream is to have a true rustic chic themed ceremony so it will be great if anyone here could provide any suggestions for the suitable New York wedding venues.