Where's The Bride?

Very often I am asked where does the bride stand, which side does she walk down for the ceremony, the introduction, and at the head table? The answer can be traditional or practical.

First, during the ceremony procession, the bride is escorted down the isle to the left of her escort and stands to the left of the groom. This is typical for Christian and Civil ceremonies. For the Jewish ceremony the bride and groom are separately escorted by their parents, with the bride and groom in between their respective sets of parents.

After she is married the groom escorts his new wife back down the isle (the recession) with the bride on his right side. From this day forward the new Mrs. X will be to the right of her husband. This goes back many years. You can imagine back in the days of the horse and buggy, that a woman was protected from the splashing horse and buggy by walking down the side walk on the inside with her husband between her and the carriage.

For a quick reminder: After you are married, it's "Whitey Righty" ….the bride (whitey) is on the right. This will hold true for the recession after the ceremony, the receiving line, the introduction of the bridal party, and when you are seated for dinner.

As for the seating of the guests during the reception, in general the bride's family is seated on her side of the room (the right side) and the groom's family his left side. However, this is where you may have to be practical and forgo the traditions. If the groom's side has more people than the bride's side, and the bride's side of the room has more space than the groom's side, then switch and let his family sit together on that side of the room. It is more important to keep family together as much as possible than to stick to traditional seating rules.