The wedding ceremony, in the traditional American form, is more than a simple ceremony. It is designed to be high drama – good wedding day drama. This is especially true of your grand entrance. It’s a statement about the transforming power of love. It’s an opportunity for the whole world to see the bride as the groom and her parents see her. That’s the whole reasoning behind the special bridal gown, jewelry, shoes, and keeping the bride sequestered until it’s time to walk down the aisle. In a way it’s your coming out party. It’s good wedding day drama.
Unfortunately, too often we undercut this aspect of the wedding ceremony by the little things that we do and don’t do. Because of this the moment often becomes anticlimactic by the time the bride appears in the aisle on the arm of her father. You put so much time and effort into finding just the right wedding dress, getting your hair and nails done perfectly for the wedding, and getting your makeup just right. So why would you want to undercut yourself so that much of the impact of your entrance is lost?
Create Private Waiting Area
Fortunately, restoring the drama in a wedding ceremony is relatively simple: First, take the time to create a waiting area that is entirely screened off from the rest of the church (including your path to get to your waiting area) so that no one can see you. This is where you will wait with your father and bridesmaids. Most churches have portable partitions that will work just fine, but take it one step further and drape material around the partitions so that no one can catch a glimpse of you in your bridal gown through the cracks or joints.
Stay Completely Hidden
Second, and this is the hardest step in preserving the drama in a wedding ceremony, resist the urge to sneak a peek at your groom, your maid of honor as she walks down the aisle, or your wedding guests. Remember if you can see the wedding party, someone can probably see you. You have probably hired a videographer to record your wedding. You ultimately won’t miss anything by not looking, but you might undo your big entrance if you peek, so don’t.
Consider the Background
Third, take a look at the area that will be behind and around you when you make your grand appearance in the wedding ceremony. Good wedding drama is created when it looks nice, and enhances your appearance. But you don’t want it to overpower your entrance in you wedding dress either. Think about it as you would if you were setting up a photograph in a wedding photography studio. Too much decoration and you will get lost, but if the background is drab your grand entrance will loose its effect.
Make Sure You Can Be Seen
Finally, don’t forget about the lighting. Many beautiful churches have little or no real lighting in the back of the church. That’s fine for their uses, but not so good for you. Under most circumstances you don’t want to walk in from the shadows. Rather, you want to be seen when you make your grand entrance in your wedding ceremony. So take the time to make special arrangements to be sure that your wedding guests actually see your beautiful face, hair, shoes, and your beautiful bridal gown in the moment you make your grand entrance. A nice bath of subtle lighting on your grand entrance will go a long way toward making sure your wedding has great wedding day drama.
Shinn, J. (2007, March 12). Wedding Day Drama – Making Your Grand Entrance Grand. Retrieved July 11, 2023, from http://ezinearticles.com/?Wedding-Day-Drama---Making-Your-Grand-Entrance-Grand&id=486248