The Correct Order of a Wedding Processional: Who Walks Down the Aisle First?

Before your big day arrives, it’s essential to get yourself acquainted with your wedding ceremony structure. From walking down the aisle and knowing who’ll sit where, to the closing remarks and the recessional, you’ll need to be familiar with it all. But for now, let’s focus on the first part – your grand entrance. You’ll want to kick things off on the right foot, after all!

It's worth noting that while we’ve covered what happens in both traditional and some modern wedding ceremony processionals here, if you don’t want to follow that order you definitely don’t have to.

“I always tell my couples that tradition is for couples who want tradition – you can pick and choose which traditions you do or don’t want to do,” says wedding planner Oliver Stanton. “You shouldn’t do something purely because it’s traditional, it should be based on your shared values as a couple.”

In short, the world really is your oyster, so don’t be afraid to do something different on your day.

Everything You Need to Know About the Order of Walking Down the Aisle in the UK

Got questions about the wedding ceremony processional? Here’s everything you need to know before taking your moment in the spotlight

When does the wedding processional happen?

Consider the wedding processional as the start of your celebrations. Once your guests have been seated, your officiant will find their place at the altar and, traditionally, your partner (usually accompanied by their best man or woman) will make their entrance from the side. Your choice of entrance music begins to play, and this signifies the beginning of your wedding ceremony processional.

Who will be in the wedding processional?

This all depends on who you have invited to be in your wedding party – it could be one person, or it could be 20 people! Traditionally, the processional would include both partner’s immediate families, any bridesmaids and/or groomsmen, flower girls and/or page boys and – of course – yourself and whoever is walking you down the aisle.

Who walks down the aisle first?

The order in which you and your attendants step down the aisle is completely your choice, but traditionally, after your partner has made their way to the altar, it is your immediate families who will walk down the aisle first to take their seats.

Usually a bride’s family is seated on the left and a groom’s on the right, but many couples are forgoing this tradition and encouraging guests to sit wherever they feel most comfortable.

What is the order of walking down the aisle at a wedding?

For church weddings, the traditional order of walking down the aisle is as follows: the groom’s grandparents, the bride’s grandparents, and then the groom’s parents. They can choose to fly solo, walk arm in arm or be ushered down by friends or members of your extended family.

Once they’re seated, the mother of the bride comes next (sometimes arm in arm with the father of the groom). If your vicar or priest isn’t already at the altar, they will be the next person to walk down the aisle.

Then you may choose whether you’d like the rest of your wedding party – your bridesmaids, groomsmen, flower girls and page boys if you have them – to walk behind you or ahead, either in pairs or separately.

Traditionally, in UK church weddings, these members of the wedding party would walk behind the bride, with the youngest member directly behind. However, most modern couples will ask their bridesmaids to go first (sometimes in pairs with the groomsmen), followed by the bride walking down the aisle with her father (or whoever else may be escorting you).

Note that this typical order will vary from religion to religion. For example, in Jewish weddings, the order is: the rabbi (and/or cantor), the bride’s grandparents, the groom’s grandparents, the best man, and the groom, who is accompanied by both his parents.

At traditional Jewish ceremonies, the bride also walks down the aisle with both her parents (her father on the left and her mother on the right) – and all four will stand under the chuppah during the ceremony.

Can two people walk you down the aisle?

It’s absolutely possible to have two people walk you down the aisle, if that’s what you want, particularly at civil ceremonies and partnerships where there is more room for personalisation of your ceremony.

Those people don’t need to be your parents, either. It can be whoever you want. Likewise, both partners might want to make a grand entrance – either separately or together. We've seen many a wedding with the bride and groom walking down the aisle! 

“The vast majority of my same-sex couples have had both partners doing the aisle walk, whether that’s together or separately,” says Oliver. “It’s definitely something all couples can consider, especially as we try to head into a more equal society with less emphasis on gender roles.”

What side does the bride walk down the aisle on?

If you’re choosing to stick with tradition, typically the bride would take the right arm of whoever is walking her down the aisle, which means you’ll hold your bouquet in your left hand. Once you’ve reached your partner at the altar, your father or usher will move to your left-hand side. 

How long does it take to walk down the aisle?

So, just how long is a wedding ceremony processional? “This will vary depending on the size of your wedding party as well as whether your ceremony is being held inside or outside,” says Oliver, “but typically a processional would rarely last longer than the average three-minute song.

“At outdoor ceremonies, the wedding party will usually have to line up further away from the top of the aisle so as not to be seen by guests. With an indoor ceremony, the wedding party can usually just line up outside the room, so I would usually add on an additional minute for outdoor ceremonies,” he adds.

Try to keep your wedding music to around 3-5 minutes to ensure it lasts the duration of getting everyone seated. It may be that you only need a snippet of that, depending on how many people you have walking down the aisle before or after you.

If you reach the altar before the music finishes, you could have someone fade out the song. If you’re having live music – a singer or a string quartet, for example – they will know how to adjust.

If you’re still unsure, speak to your wedding planner or venue coordinator about how long it generally takes couples to walk the length of the aisle. Or, if you’re planning a rehearsal, do a timed run!

What happens after the processional?

Once you’ve worked out the order of walking down the aisle, it’s good to be clear on what will happen next.

Sometimes the groomsmen will walk the bridesmaids to the front row, walk around the aisle and then seat themselves at the back – this puts them in a good position to open the doors for you and your partner at the end of the service if there is no one else around to do it.

Typically, your maid of honour or chief bridesmaid will be seated closest to you so you can hand her your bouquet when you reach the altar. She can hand it back to you once you’ve signed the register. If you’ve chosen to not have any bridesmaids, your father or escort could take the bouquet and either place it on the front pew or hand it to someone else.

“In modern ceremonies, in most cases, the bridesmaids will immediately take their seats rather than lining up at the front,” says Oliver. “And on that note, it’s always good to have clearly signed reserved seats for anyone walking down the aisle so there is space for them to sit when they get there.

“Something you absolutely have to do before all of this is have a discussion with everyone involved about how the wedding ceremony processional will work so everyone knows what their role is,” he adds. “This includes having a conversation with the groomsmen, who are often less involved in the planning process.”

According to Oliver, it’s important to always address the following:

• How fast to walk down the aisle. The word to remember is ‘promenading’ – to walk as to be seen by others!
• The order everyone will walk. It’s also useful to have someone that’s in an aisle seat on the front row who can quickly fluff the bride’s train and take her bouquet once the ceremony starts, so this person would probably be the last of the bridesmaids to walk down the aisle.
• Where everyone will sit after their aisle walk. Usually the bridesmaids will sit on the first couple of rows on one side and the groomsmen will do the same on the other side. For LGBTQ+ weddings, the same principle may also apply.
• Whether the bride wants to be ‘given away’ or just walked down the aisle (if being escorted at all). If the bride’s dad is simply walking her down the aisle, he will take his seat once the walk is done. If he is giving her away, he will stay stood for part of the ceremony and the officiant will ask, “who gives [bride’s name] to be married to [groom’s name]?” To which her father will respond, ‘I do”.

Don’t forget your choice of music will also shape your big arrival. If you’re looking for something different, we’ve got plenty of alternative inspiration in our edit of the best emo wedding songs!