There are some wedding traditions that logistically don’t always translate in a same-sex wedding. Take, for instance, the “walking down the aisle” part.
Who goes first? Who walks who? So many questions! So, we asked six LGBTQ+ couples how they walked down the wedding aisle as a same-sex couple.
Ari & Lucy
We didn’t put a lot of thought into who would go first. In fact, we can’t actually ever remember having a conversation about it until our wedding officiant asked us about two weeks out from the wedding date!
For no real reason, other than Lucy putting her hand up first, Lucy walked first with her Mom, and Ari followed with both of their parents.
Sarah & Sarah
Sarah R cringed at the thought of walking down the aisle. Her parents have unfortunately been unsupportive when it came to her marrying Sarah and the tradition just brought up too much emotional angst. So, Sarah R waited at the altar under our beautiful copper and floral arbor [that she built herself!] and Sarah W walked toward her arm in arm with her Dad.
It actually worked out great because it meant that Sarah R was there to greet guests and share the rollercoaster of excitement and nerves with all of our guests and Sarah W, who has a tendency to always be late, had an extra minute [or twenty!] to finish getting ready.
Meaghan & Kate
We actually both walked down separate, but at the same time! Instead of having one walkway down the center of the ceremony venue we opted to have two walkways cut through our seating arrangement.
We were incredibly thankful to have the support of our parents. Each of us walked down with both of our parents! We know not every venue can cater to the way we had it set up, but we know this worked so well for us.
Rosie & Sky
We were so indecisive about who would walk first, and then second, so we went about it in an unconventional way. We started our wedding morning together – with a celebratory champagne breakfast, of course. Then, we tossed a coin before we separated to get ready with our respective wedding parties. We actually kept it a secret from our guests right up until the last minute! Rosie ended up walking down first with her younger brother and Sky walked second, by herself.
Sky had always wanted to walk alone. To her, it signified an independent woman making a choice to commit to her bride for the rest of her life.
Unconventional, sure, but it was the perfect solution for us.
Lara & Nicole
We decided early on [if we are honest before we were even engaged] that we would have a ‘first look’ at our wedding. So, after we had our first look, and we had a chance to wipe away all the happy tears, we had our photographer invite our parents in to share a special moment together before we wed.
Our parents each walked us to the top of the aisle, said their congratulations, and we walked the rest of the way together.
Suzy & Ryn
Neither of us walked down the aisle.
When it came to wedding planning every single decision, including decisions to include more traditional elements, was matched with us asking ourselves and each other why we wanted to include it. We had a small and intimate wedding of just 23 of our closest friends and chosen family, neither of us liked the idea of being ‘given away’ and having an entrance just wasn’t important.
Together we greeted our guests as they arrived at the ceremony. When the time came, our officiant announced the start of the ceremony to us all. We simply walked up to the front of the room from where we were standing at the time and everything began after everyone found their seats.
Although we hadn’t heard of other couples doing it the same way as us, we knew it was right for us.
