Who Will March with the Bride in a Nashville Wedding?
For many years, it has been customary that the father walks with his daughter during the wedding to give his daughter’s hand to her future husband. This tradition embodies a father entrusting his most priced treasure to the care of another man who will endlessly love, honor and respect her just like how he did. This has been the common picture during the wedding but since most of the women today are getting married at a later age, such tradition is changing at some Nashville weddings.
Modern traditions are being created nowadays. These traditions have been made because of today’s changing families, and also, the bride and groom want to display their uniqueness. Therefore, the question on who should walk the bride down the aisle doesn’t matter, what is important is that the bride exudes with joy and happiness. Below are the modern practices about the etiquettes in a wedding march.
A bride whose father has passed away or has not been around for the bride for several years, she can choose to have her stepfather or brother or other close relatives like her uncle, cousin or a family friend to walk with her on her wedding march. She can also choose her mother to walk with her down the aisle if that’s what she prefers.
In Jewish tradition, it is customary that both parents walk their daughter down the aisle. This tradition respects the love that the parents have for their daughter, and honour their effort in raising their child. In many weddings of different religions, most of the brides have practiced this tradition and choose to have both her parents on their wedding march. This tradition symbolizes how the bride has appreciated the love and care that her parents have given her.
The bride can also opt for both father and stepfather to walk her down the aisle if she considers them both very significant in her life. In some cases, the father walks the bride halfway and the stepfather leads the bride on the next half of the aisle, or vice versa. This represents the bride’s appreciation to her two fathers. A Nashville wedding like this can work in a chapel with a long aisle like Wightman Chapel or in a location where there is an ample distance for the wedding march like Springhaven Mansion.
The bride with an older age may feel awkward to have her father walk her down the aisle. It is a common practice nowadays that the bride marches down the aisle all by herself. This represents how independent she is on her decision to get married and be united with the man she chose to be with. A bride who has children from her previous marriage can take her son or daughter to walk with her down the aisle. This does not show that the children are giving their mother away; this just simply demonstrates how important her kids are to her new life.
Other brides march down the aisle with their groom. This is already common today, showing that they have made a life together apart from their families. Walking down the aisle together illustrates the commitment they have for each other. Meeting halfway is also another option, demonstrating the bride and groom’s union on middle ground.
What matters is that the bride chooses a wedding walk that fits her personality. She can make a decision of doing the traditional wedding walk with her father or opt for something different. The wedding march is very significant for the bride so it is barely up to her to decide.