Procession for very uneven wedding party

Knottie10724897

My fiance and I have a very uneven wedding party. I have 3 bridesmaids and 1 bridesman on my side, and he has 7 groomsmen. We are also having our dog in the wedding  Obviously even pairs will not work. Should we have everyone walk down alone? Should we send down 3 at a time (2 guys with 1 girl, and then 2 guys - my bridesman and a GM at the end)? What would make sense here? I don't want the processional to take forever if everyone is solo but maybe that is best?

What did some of you with very uneven wedding parties do?

Thank you!

southernbelle0915

Knottie10724897 said:

My fiance and I have a very uneven wedding party. I have 3 bridesmaids and 1 bridesman on my side, and he has 7 groomsmen. We are also having our dog in the wedding  Obviously even pairs will not work. Should we have everyone walk down alone? Should we send down 3 at a time (2 guys with 1 girl, and then 2 guys - my bridesman and a GM at the end)? What would make sense here? I don't want the processional to take forever if everyone is solo but maybe that is best?

What did some of you with very uneven wedding parties do?

Thank you!

The processional is a place where you can get creative. There are lots of ways to do this. You could:

1) have all GMs standing up front to before the processional starts, then BMs walk solo
2) all GMs and BMs could stand up front before the processional starts
3) all GMs and BMs could be seated up front before the processional starts
4) Have the bridesman and best man escort any single/widowed grandmothers/mothers and wait up front; and then each BM walks with two GMs

I'd probably do 1 or 4. And these are not your only options. Just ideas.

Someone will need to walk your dog down the aisle on a leash and keep it under control during the ceremony. Maybe one of the GMs can be in charge of that?

Jen4948

I would only have your dog walked down the aisle by someone whom your dog is really familiar and comfortable with - not "one of the GMs" unless he falls in that category and is okay with walking the dog rather than by himself or with a BM.

I like @southernbelle0915's #4.

lovesclimbing

I like the method you suggested - two guys with a girl. I have seen that done before, and I think it worked well. I also like the idea of the GMs standing up front beforehand. This seems to be not as popular nowadays, but it was much more common a few years ago. My mom did it that way. But even if you do that, you still have to figure out some way to combine them coming down the aisle at the end, in which case I think your method would be best. I also like southern belle's #4 idea. 

justsie

We had uneven parties at my wedding, the GMs processed followed by by H, then the grandparents, parents, BMs (I also had a bridesman) and me. 

SP29

Granted we had a smaller WP, but each of your WP members walked up the aisle solo. However, just walking up an aisle won't take too long, even with 11 (you don't need to wait for one person to fully walk up the aisle before the next one starts, a few paces behind will do).

MairePoppy

I'd have the groom's party walk in first, in pairs, then the groom and his parents, the bride's party in pairs, the bride and her parents.

CMGragain

In a traditional non-jewish processional, the families are seated last.  When the MOB sits down, it is a signal for the processional music to begin.  In the USA, the bridesmaids walk in alone, followed by the bride who walks with her chosen escort, most often, her father.  The groomsmen are lined up at the right hand side of the altar with the groom, waiting for the ladies, who line up on the left hand side.  The men do not process.
A traditional recessional has the bride and groom walking together, with the bridesmaids pairing up with the first three groomsmen.  After that, the groomsmen pair up and walk together. with the last one walking alone, followed by the officiant.  Then the guests are dismissed, usually by the ushers, or by the groomsmen, front rows first.