The bridesmaids should arrive some little time before the bride, and form a line on either side of the church porch, or within the church doorway. The mother of the bride usually stands beside them.
When the bride arrives she should take her father's right arm, or the right arm of her eldest brother or nearest male relative, who is deputed to give her away; he should meet her at the church door in the place of her father, and conduct her to the chancel or altar.
At choral weddings the clergy and choir head the bridal procession and lead the way to the chancel, singing a hymn the while.
The Bridesmaids should follow the bride and her father up the nave of the church. When the number of bridesmaids is even, four, six, eight, or twelve; but when the number is odd, as five, seven, or nine, and three of them happen to be children, which is generally the case, the elder bridesmaids should walk "two and two," following next after the children.
At fashionable weddings one or two little boys act as pages, and occasionally bear the bride's train.
The head bridesmaid is generally the bride's eldest unmarried sister or the bridegroom's sister, and she should follow next to the bride with her companion bridesmaid, when children are not included in the group.
The Bride's Mother should follow next to the bridesmaids, and walk by the side of her son, or other male relative, in following them up the nave of the church. Ladies and gentlemen do not walk arm-in-arm at a wedding, but side by side.