Your idea of how you want your wedding to kick off — your entrance — has probably been shaped by tradition, by the films and princess cartoons you have watched and by your childhood dreams.

“Walking down the aisle” is the expression you would probably use to refer to the opening moment of a wedding when a bride enters a church, traditionally on her father’s arm, and slowly proceeds towards the altar where her groom (and officiant) await her. This is also known as the “processional”. The conventional sequence is completed when the bride’s father “gives the bride away” to the groom, representing her change in status.

You may want to keep some, or all, of these elements — or do something completely different — and the great thing is, with a celebrant-led wedding

YOU CAN DO WHAT YOU WANT!

The most important thing about a personalized ceremony that has been scrupulously prepared together with your professional celebrant is that the form and the content of the ceremony are perfectly aligned and reflect WHO YOU ARE AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND A COUPLE.

Take this entrance, for example, celebrated by Giulia at Castello Orsini

Brittany and Louis wanted to set an upbeat, fun tone right from the start. At the same time, Brittany wanted to give her Dad — who was up for it! — a leading role because she had always had that romantic dream that he would be the one “giving her away”. This was the result they came up with, encouraged by their celebrant to take the leap of faith: a dramatic entrance down the medieval stairs of the castle, the guests looking on, amazed, from their seats below, accompanied by the song they had chosen to represent their love and, boy, did father and daughter rock!

Check it out for yourselves!

Another example throws tradition out of the window altogether, but it is still deeply romantic because it visually represents a strong sense of family. This is Valentina and Salvatore’s unconventional rustic garden wedding in Cilento, Campania, celebrated by Sarah. The guests were seated on hay-bales in a circle of love surrounding and protecting them and two friends she used to sing with are providing the music. Because the couple already had children, they wanted to make them feel a part of the ceremony. Their solution: Valentina made her entrance with her two boys and all their little friends, a cortege of children, and Salvatore came and joined them later. As you can see, it was truly an emotional but fun-filled moment.

Here is an example of how you can marry tradition and personalization perfectly in your choice of style for your ceremony. Alessia and Alessandro, a Roman couple together since high school, wanted a wedding with a difference. After discussing all their desires and wishes with Sarah, their celebrant, they went for a beach location and they created an “aisle” that Alessia could “walk down” with her father. Alessia chose the song and kept it a secret from Alessandro, and on hearing it and seeing his glowing bride he was very moved as it was one of “their songs”. This is the beautiful result, complete with a romantic sunset. 

Finally, a couple may want to make their bridal entrance together, hand in hand, united from the start. This can be a good idea for couples who do not like the idea of one of them at the front being observed as they watch their bride or bridegroom walking in. In this brief clip, you can see Lucilla and Stefania making their way towards the focus together.