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Who should walk me down the aisle?
We've addressed how to tell your dad someone else is walking you down the aisle before (lots of great comments on that post!), but never... Read more
What better way to keep your cool and soothe your nerves than by walking down the aisle and into your wedding with your partner (like Jenny and Dean happily did above!)?
Sure, it's awesome for some brides to have that surprise grand entrance moment on their big day (Cue the Pachelbel Canon, and OMG HERE COMES THE BRIDE!), but more and more couples are choosing to walk down the aisle together. Walking down the aisle into your wedding ceremony together means you share a processional song and a delightful moment together, avoid any unnecessary gender roles (maybe the groom wants a grand entrance too!), and keep yourself on equal footing.
Oh, and talk about amazing photo ops together while looking happy AF and smiling together at wedding guests. For some couples, it's totally the way to go. Here are a few of our favorite couples who opted to walk down the aisle together… PLUS, this post features some alternative aisle-walking songs, for those of you who want to hold the hem of your dress to something OTHER than the classics like Frank Sinatra, Coldplay, or Jack Johnson.
Okay, Katy and Matthew know exactly how to rock a shared processional:
Matthew and I walked down the aisle together, and our wedding processional was a segment of “Jane Doe” by Converge. We saw our wedding very much as a celebration of the continuation of an already formed partnership of over six years. We wanted that to be reflected in our ceremony. When we got to the end of the aisle we each hugged all of our parents and stepparents to honor their place in our lives. And I high-fived my best man, because that's what we do.
Jane and Matt held hands as they entered their Voodoo Doughnuts ceremony together, making eye contact with their grandparents and other guests.
Cat and Babs (see? looking happy AF) entered their ceremony like this:
We walked down the aisle together to our wedding song, which was “Hot Love” by T. Rex. We had our little chihuahua Lola. We chose to walk together to show that our marriage was a continuation and affirmation of our relationship.
Below a sea of floating Harry Potter-inspired candles, CJ and Lo took to their ceremony arm-in-arm.
Bex and Cort walked each other down the aisle like so:
We walked ourselves down the aisle to our very wonderful liberal rabbi, using alternative Sheva Brachot, breaking two glasses at the end of the ceremony, and having a mix-gendered wedding party where they all wore their own outfits, within some guidelines.
Megan and Ian's #classydinosaurwedding didn't just feature dinos. It also had a sweet first look and a waltz down the aisle hand-in-hand.
Amy and Jake's rustic forest-y wedding was so beautiful AND they had an awesome processional:
Our friend Lucy played our weddding entrance song, which was a beautiful rendition of “God Only Knows” on piano for the processional. We opted not to have a wedding party and instead had our immediate families make a special entrance. Then Jake and I escorted each other to the altar, upon which hung a gorgeous floral garland designed by Jake's aunt (who also did my lovely bouquet).
Riley and Anei walked themselves in WITH their whole families. I love this idea so much:
As a queer/trans couple, we felt liberated to create our own ceremony and rituals. We opted to not have a wedding party and had our whole family walk us in instead, to Beyonce's “Halo.”
Here's what Shana and Sean had to say about their processional:
Our wedding party walked up the aisle to “You're All I Need To Get By” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Sean and I walked down the aisle to the beloved reggae song “She's Royal” by Tarrus Riley.
Natalie and Ry chose to walk in together:
We kept our ceremony simple and we chose not to have a wedding party (yep, no bridesmaids or groomsmen here!). It was also standing only, which saved money on chairs, set an informal vibe, and encouraged everyone to gather around us. We wrote the ceremony ourselves, start to finish. We walked ourselves down the aisle (so we weren't being “given away”).
Aly told us:
We walked down the aisle together, but no music. We had a ceremony in the middle of our cocktail hour, so at the appointed time we just told everyone to grab a drink and pick a seat. We held back for a second to let everyone get settled, then my husband said “Let’s do this!” and we walked up while everyone cheered. (Also note our parents in the front row – my in-laws insisted that my mom sit next to them and the three of them held hands the whole time!)
Need more ideas for your wedding entrance song?
For those of you who aren't into doing things the traditional way with classical or country music, and want something more unique for your aisle walk, WE GOTCHOO with these tracks that give a new twist on the old tunes.
How will you be entering YOUR ceremony?
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About the Author: Catherine Clark
Catherine Clark loiters at her local library, makes art, watches movies en masse, plays video and tabletop games, poorly cooks healthy things, cuddles with her feline fur babies, and blogs at BijouxandBits.com.
Yay! This is what we are doing, and I really cannot picture it any other way. 🙂
As a German: It’s totally normal for me and actually traditional here that the couple enters together, especially in church. Some pastors won’t even allow anything else.
I’ve heard people complaining at a wedding that it wasn’t “romantic” enough because the father hadn’t given her away. I think that’s sad. I like the symbolism that the couple is entering the room and the marriage together.
Also, usually people complain when the couple deviates from tradition, now they complain when they follow tradition 😀
But I guess the movies change people’s expectations.
The symbolism is amazing! You’re totally right. 🙂
In Sweden, as in Germany, it is traditional for the couple to walk in together, though the giving over of the bride has gained popularity in later years after being made popular in Hollywood movies. The Swedish church discourages this practice in light of Swedish history and the symbolism involved:
‘It has never been a Swedish tradition for the father of the bride to hand the bride to the groom, but occasionally this is what a couple wishes. It is a wish accepted by the church, but with the noted objection that the giving of the bride symbolizes that the woman is not an independent person, but rather that the father is giving ‘ownership’ of the bride to her future husband.’
(Translated from the Swedish Church’s website, https://www.svenskakyrkan.se/vigselns-symbolik-och-symboler)
My husband and I will definitely walk in together at our wedding this fall!
My husband and I walked down the aisle together (me on the right). I think some of the family members were surprised, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Having been together 7 years already, we were already “married” in every other way except legally.