Wedding Protocol

By weddingspot.co.uk, 28/02/11 The wedding ceremony

Although we have discussed the wedding process in previous articles, whether civil or religious, this time we will focus on the official protocol for a religious ceremony.

Weddings are the ultimate celebrations in all families, and as such they require special attention. Careful organisation ahead of time ensures a successful event. But apart from that, there are some rules of protocol that must be followed:

The delivery of the bouquet: the wedding celebration begins with the delivery of the bouquet by the best man, generally the father of the bride, to the bride at her house. In Cataluña, Spain, the best man is usually a close family member and tradition dictates that he reads a poem during the delivery. Afterwards, the bride leaves her house accompanied by her father and sets off for the church.
The bride and groom's entrance into the church: the entrance of the bride and groom into the church can be done in two ways. If the groom waits for the bride at the church door, the correct order of entry is the bride first, on her father's right arm, followed by the pageboys and the bridesmaids, the groom and the maid of honour on the groom's right arm, the groom's father and the bride's mother on his right arm and the witnesses. If, on the other hand, the groom chooses to wait for the bride at the altar, he should do that accompanied by her mother. The bride should arrive at the church with a maximum delay of 15 minutes and will enter on the right arm of her father, followed by the page boys and bridesmaids, the groom's father and the bride's mother on his right arm and the witnesses.

Location in the church: On arriving at the altar, the bride will let go of her father's or the best man's arm and will stand to the left of the groom. The bride's mother will go to the left of the bride and the bride's father or best man to the right of the groom, always facing towards the altar. The bride's witnesses will be situated on the left side, whilst those of the groom will be on the groom's side. In the same way, the bride's guests will be seated on the left side of the church and the groom's guests on the right side. The first few rows are usually reserved for the bride and groom's direct family members.
During the ceremony: There are various moments during the ceremony that must also follow protocol, such as the removing of the veil, the exchanging of rings or the giving of the Arras (a Spanish tradition in which the couple exchange 13 coins to symbolise shared future possessions). Brides who wear a veil should wear it so that it covers her face from the moment that she steps out of the wedding car up until the priest declares the pair to be "man and wife". At this moment, the groom will remove the veil. As for the rings, in Spain, these should be placed on the ring finger of the right hand (except in some provinces such as Cataluña, where they wear it on the left). The person in charge of giving these to the priest is the best man. In terms of the order, it should be the groom who first places the ring on the bride's finger, and then the bride will do the same. Lastly, the giving of the Arras is carried out in the same order as the rings and it is normally the bride's mother who is in charge of delivering them, except if there is an "Arras bearer" (similar to page boys or bridesmaids).
Leaving the church: Once the ceremony is over, the bride and groom will leave linking arms followed by the best man and the maid of honour, the groom's father and the bride's mother and lastly the page boys and bridesmaids.

Wedding Protocol

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