A Guide To Choosing Your Entourage

Weddings are a time for tradition, and a major part of that tradition are the wedding sponsors, bridesmaids, best man and other positions, who together form the wedding entourage. If you are organising a wedding and would like to know all about the entourage, here is a detailed description of how to put together a wedding entourage.

The Principal Sponsors
Legally, the principal sponsors are the people in the entourage that must be in attendance, as they serve as witnesses and would sign the marriage certificate. The principal sponsors would also be grandparents to any children from the marriage, and would always be available for counselling, should the marriage have any issues.

Secondary Sponsors
If the wedding is in a Catholic church, you will need three pairs to act as secondary sponsors – the candle sponsors to light the wedding cake candles, the veil sponsors to place the veil over the groom’s shoulder and the bride’s head and the last set of sponsors, the cord sponsors to place the cord over the bride and groom.

The Best Man
This key role is usually given to the groom’s best friend and it is his responsibility to ensure that the groom arrives in one piece, while he also organises the bachelor party prepares a wedding reception speech, and, of course, keeps the wedding rings safe until the moment they are needed. If you are considering custom engagement rings NZ women prefer, have a look at unique engagement rings,
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The Maid of Honour
This is the female equivalent of the best man, and it is the maid of honour’s duty to take care of the bride on this very special day. She would also organise the hen’s night and would be on hand to help the bride dress for the wedding. There are informative articles on the roles of people in a wedding entourage which you can find online. They are recommended readings if you are tasked with organising a wedding.

The Bridesmaids
The bridesmaids are there to help the maid of honour and are typically the family and close friends of the bride. The bridesmaids will help to attend to the guests during the reception, and it is worth noting that you should have the same number of bridesmaids as groomsmen.

The Groomsmen
These fellows are there to offer practical support to the groom and would be directed by the best man. The groomsmen would accompany the bridesmaids during the ceremony and would be on hand to assist with the guests during the reception.

The Bearers
In a traditional Catholic wedding, there would be three types of bearer; the ring bearer, who carries the ring on a special ring cushion, the coin bearer and the Bible bearer, with each carrying their item to the altar. The bearers are usually children, either family members or the children of good friends, and can age from 3 upwards. Some people prefer to have a single ring bearer, who would be a boy, to bring the
ring to the altar.

It makes sense to spend some time thinking carefully about who should take up the various roles in the entourage, as there is a degree of responsibility required.