Editing White wedding (section)

==The ceremony==
[[File:Ev Stadtkirche Ravensburg innen.jpg|thumb|A [[Lutheran]] priest in Germany marries a young couple at the church.]]
[[File:New Orleans Wedding Ceremony.jpg|thumb|The [[bride]] and [[groom]] stand before the [[altar]] during the wedding ceremony, surrounded by the [[bridesmaid]]s and [[groomsmen]].]]
When the guests arrive for a wedding, the ushers, if any, help the guests take their places. In a typical white wedding ceremony, which is derived primarily from the [[Christian]] tradition (inclusive of denominations such as Lutheranism and Anglicanism, for example), the bride and groom will stand side by side at the front of the church before the [[chancel]] throughout most or all the ceremony. Consequently, some guests prefer to sit on the side closer to the person they know best. Typically, this means that the bride's family sits on the [[house left]] and the groom's family on [[house right]]. The front rows are generally reserved for close family members or friends.

Some couples make a ceremony of having their grandparents, step-parents, and parents escorted to their seats immediately before the wedding procession begins. In other cases, these relatives form part of the wedding procession.

Depending on the country, her age and situation, and her personal preferences, the bride may walk alone or be escorted by her father, both of her parents, one or more relatives she wishes to honor, or the groom. In Swedish white weddings, the bride and groom usually go down the aisle together.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.brollopstorget.se/Vigseln/vigselakten.php |title= Vigselakten |trans-title= The Wedding Ceremony |publisher= brollopstorget.se |quote= Det vanligaste nuförtiden i Sverige är att brud och brudgum går in i kyrkan tillsammans |access-date= 22 March 2010 |archive-date= 10 July 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100710063729/http://www.brollopstorget.se/Vigseln/vigselakten.php |url-status= dead }}</ref> Similarly, some couples choose to have the groom escorted to the altar by his family.

Whether the bride is the first or the last of the [[wedding party]] to enter the church varies by country. In the US, the bride is typically last, being preceded by the rest of the wedding party. In the UK, she leads the procession, followed by any [[bridesmaid]]s, [[flower girl]]s and [[Page boy (wedding attendant)|page boys]]. Sometimes the groom is already present in the church; other times, he and any [[groomsmen]] form part of the procession. The music played during this procession is commonly called a ''[[wedding march]]'', no matter what songs are played.

If the wedding is part of a religious service, then technically the service begins after the arrival of the participants, commonly with a prayer, blessing, or ritual greeting. During the ceremony, each partner in the couple makes [[marriage vows]] to the other in front of the marriage officiant. The ceremony might include the playing of a prelude, the singing of [[hymn]]s, and [[Lection|Bible readings]], as well as [[Holy Communion]] in accordance with the [[Christian liturgy|Christian marriage liturgy]] of the church at which the wedding is held, e.g. [[Lutheran]], [[Catholic]], [[Presbyterian]], [[Anglican]], [[Methodist]], [[Baptist]], [[Mormon]], [[Calvinist]], [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]], [[Protestant]], [[Eastern Orthodox|Orthodox]], etc.<ref name="Warrick2013">{{cite book|last1=Yrigoyen|first1=Charles Jr.|last2=Warrick|first2=Susan E.|title=Historical Dictionary of Methodism|date=7 November 2013|publisher=Scarecrow Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-8108-7894-5|page=236|quote=In Methodism, the sacred service celebrates a covenenat grounded in the will of God and sustained by divine grace. ... Methodism encourages the solemnization of marriages within the context of congregational worship and eucharistic celebration.}}</ref>

After the wedding ceremony itself ends, the bride, groom, officiant, and two witnesses generally go off to a side room to sign the wedding register in the United Kingdom or the state-issued marriage license in the United States. Without the signing of the register or the marriage license, a marriage has not legally occurred.

Afterward, guests may cheer the departure of the couple from the church by throwing flower [[petal]]s, [[confetti]], [[birdseed]], or rice over them. Miniature containers of bubbles are often provided to guest to blow at the couple instead of throwing the previously mentioned items.