From the placement of guests in the pews or seats to the entrance of the bride and groom, any wedding ceremony requires a fair amount of choreography in order to run smoothly. Here are some traditional guidelines for seating arrangements, procession, ceremony formation, and recession. You can choose to conduct your ceremony in a different way, but be sure to ask the officiant if he or she is amenable to changes before doing so.

Seating at a Christian Ceremony
At a traditional, formal Christian wedding or a large civil ceremony, the bride's family and friends are seated on the left and the groom's on the right. Mark off the first few rows with flowers or ribbon as seating for immediate family and special guests (such as the flower girl's and ring bearer's parents, someone giving a reading, and close relatives), as labeled below. Divorced parents may sit together in the front row. If they are remarried or not on good terms, the father and his wife should sit in the third row. Ushers seat guests as they arrive, from front rows to back; the final guests to be seated are, in this order: grandparents, mother of the groom (with father walking just behind), and mother of the bride.

1. Bride's Parents
2. Groom's Parents
3. Bride's Grandparents and Siblings
4. Groom's Grandparents and Siblings
5. Bride's Special Guests
6. Groom's Special Guests

Seating at a Jewish Ceremony
At a traditional, formal Jewish wedding, the bride's side is on the right and the groom's is on the left. The parents stand under the huppah during the ceremony; stepparents may sit in the aisle seats in the second and third rows or stand under the huppah if they are very close to the bride or groom.

1. Groom's Grandparents and Siblings
2. Bride's Grandparents and Siblings
3.Groom's Special Guests
4. Bride's Special Guests