Planning a Successful Wedding

If you decided to have a traditional church 
wedding then your order of wedding service 
will normally run something like this. 
Firstly you will usually meet with your local 
church minister and discuss the different 
options for your order of wedding service. An 
order of wedding service might include just 
the words of the hymns, or just the major 
parts of the service. This helps your guests 
to follow the order of wedding service 
proceedings so they know what is happening 
and save them from having to refer to hymn 
books (particularly if they are not religious 
people) during the service. 

On your Wedding Day the ushers should 
generally be the first to arrive so that they 
can give out orders of service to arriving 
guests and then show people to their seats. 

The groom and his best man should also arrive 
early to ensure they arrive in plenty of time 
to allow for their photos to be taken before 
the service. The bridesmaids will then arrive 
and should wait outside for the bride. If in 
a church, the bells start to ring and the bride 
and her father generally arrive a few minutes 
before the service to allow for photographs 
taken and for the chief bridesmaid to have a 
chance to arrange the dress and train and 
organise the other bridesmaids for entry into 
the wedding service. 

When the bride reaches the front the groom 
and best man should take their places on the 
bride's right. The bride then hands her bouquet 
to her chief bridesmaid to her left. After the 
entrance of the bride, there is usually a hymn, 
followed by readings and an address from the 
minister. The vows are taken and then the best 
man passes the rings to the groom or he can 
give them to the minister on the face of the 
prayer book and he will offer them to the bride 
and groom. 

The minister may then say a prayer and the 
congregation may sing a hymn, followed by a 
final blessing. The bride and groom follow the 
minister to go and sign the register, usually 
followed by their parents and the bridesmaids 
and best man. While the register is being 
signed and witnessed by two adults, a choir 
may sing or the organist may play some music. 
When the formalities are finished, the bridal 
procession leaves the church as follows: bride 
and groom, small attendants, chief bridesmaid 
and best man, bride's mother with groom's 
father and then groom's mother with bride's 
father. 

The order of service will run quickly and 
usually runs far smoother than anyone expects 
when they are first putting the order of 
service together