Meanwhile, about fifteen minutes before the wedding hour, the groom and
his best man--both in morning coats, top-hats, boutonnières and white
buckskin (but remember not shiny) gloves, walk or drive to the church and
enter the side door which leads to the vestry. There they sit, or in the
clergyman's study, until the sexton or an usher comes to say that the
bride has arrived.
=THE PERFECTLY MANAGED WEDDING=
At a perfectly managed wedding, the bride arrives exactly one minute (to
give a last comer time to find place) after the hour. Two or three
servants have been sent to wait in the vestibule to help the bride and
bridesmaids off with their wraps and hold them until they are needed after
the ceremony. The groom's mother and father also are waiting in the
vestibule. As the carriage of the bride's mother drives up, an usher goes
as quickly as he can to tell the groom, and any brothers or sisters of the
bride or groom, who are not to take part in the wedding procession and
have arrived in their mother's carriage, are now taken by ushers to their
places in the front pews. The moment the entire wedding party is at the
church, the doors between the vestibule and the church are _closed_. No
one is seated after this, except the parents of the young couple. The
proper procedure should be carried out with military exactness, and is as
follows:
The groom's mother goes down the aisle on the arm of the head usher and
takes her place in the first pew on the right; the groom's father follows
alone, and takes his place beside her; the same usher returns to the
vestibule and immediately escorts the bride's mother; he should then have
time to return to the vestibule and take his place in the procession. The
beginning of the wedding march should sound just as the usher returns to
the head of the aisle. To repeat: _No other person should be seated after
the mother of the bride._ Guests who arrive later must stand in the
vestibule or go into the gallery.
The sound of the music is also the cue for the clergyman to enter the
chancel, followed by the groom and his best man. The two latter wear
gloves but have left their hats and sticks in the vestry-room.
The groom stands on the right hand side at the head of the aisle, but if
the vestry opens into the chancel, he sometimes stands at the top of the
first few steps. He removes his right glove and holds it in his left hand.
The best man remains always directly back and to the right of the groom,
and does _not_ remove his glove.
=HERE COMES THE BRIDE=
The description of the procession is given in detail on a preceding page
in the "Wedding Rehearsal" section.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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