Welcome to the Rehearsal Planner!

Think of your ceremony chopped up into three easy pieces. There are two "walking parts" at the beginning and end of the ceremony, i.e. your processional and recessional; and one "talking part" in the middle, i.e. the ceremony itself. At your actual rehearsal, I'll help go over the talking part with you in detail. This tool is to help you plan the walking parts, so that whoever is in charge of your rehearsal (likely me!) will know exactly who's walking in your processional and recessional, and in what order.

The Most Important Thing

You could dramatically change the order of your processional and recessional, and 95% of your guests won't even notice. The ones that do notice won't care! It's easy to get carried away by the "everything must go perfectly" vibe that we often feel, but here's a fact: none of your guests came to your wedding to critique it. You can send people up or down the aisle in the technically "incorrect" order, either by accident or by design, and your ceremony will still absolutely slay!

Your Song Selections

Choosing your recessional song is easy - pick a single fun, celebratory song.

If you're striving for simplicity, choose a single song for your processional as well. This may or may not work depending on how long your aisle is, and how many people are working to said song. Or you may choose two songs (one grandparents, parents, groomsmen, and bridesmaids, with a separate song for the bride) or three songs (one for grandparents/parents, one for groomsmen/bridesmaids, and one for the bride.)

Some couples like to try to send people down the aisle in timed intervals to correspond with dramatic moments in the song, or to ensure that the entire song is allowed to play - I recommend against this. It can be done, but it adds a layer of unnecessary complexity to the processional. It also requires someone who isn't walking in your processional to keep time and give those who are walking their cues. 

The Proper Order

As you plan your processional, here is the order in which people generally walk down the aisle. Please note that gendered ceremony language is used here for the sake of clarity, but genderless language will be used based on the preference you stated in your questionnaire. 

  • the groom's grandparents
  • the bride's grandparents
  • the groom's parents
  • the bride's mother, sometimes escorted by a family member or groomsman
  • the groom, with or without his best man
  • the groomsmen and bridesmaids in pairs, or each group can walk in separately
  • the ringbearer first, followed by the flower girl, or both together
  • the bride and her escort, usually her father

Who's Walking?

Please enter the first names of those who are walking in your processional in the order you'd like them to walk. Each line will include one or two names, depending on whether they're walking alone or with a partner.