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Show Follow wedding etiquette Starting as early as the engagement, engage-ment, there are certain time-honored time-honored traditions that the couple should follow. It is customary for the parents of the bride to be told of the engagement engage-ment first, followed by the parents of the groom. It is then the responsibility respon-sibility of the groom's parents to visit or call the bride's parents to welcome their new daughter-in-law into the family, according to The Bride's Book of Etiquette. This should be done right away; otherwise other-wise disapproval of their son's choice is signified. ' ' The bride's mother is the official hostess for the wedding. She has the responsibility for the wedding. She has the responsibility to keep the groom's parents informed on the progress of the wedding plans. She should confer with the groom's mother on the dresses they will wear, and be sure his mother is invited in-vited to all of the bridal showers. The bride's father is the official host of the reception and he may mingle with the guests instead of standing in the reception line. He is the last person to leave the reception recep-tion and the one who bids the guests goodbye. The groom's parents are the honored guests at the wedding and should be seated in the first pew on the groom's side of the aisle during a church wedding. In certain faiths there are basic rules and rituals that are part of the marriage ceremony. The bride and groom should be familiar with these rules. One important thing to remember re-member is that the bride should never wear her engagement ring on her left hand during the ceremony. Her left hand must be free to receive the wedding ring. The line-up used at the reception in area weddings seems to be unique to Utah. Most experts agree that the fathers of the bride and groom need not stand in the reception recep-tion line and that the ushers and the best man never stand in the line. However, locally a typical recep tion line has the head usher at the head of the line followed by the mother of the bride, father of the bride, mother of the groom, father of the groom, best man, groom, bride, maid of honor, bridesmaids, and flower girls. What works for most, won't work for some and wedding consultants con-sultants may advise couples to make changes in the line. As one consultant pointed out, "All of the books tell you never to put a pregnant preg-nant woman in a wedding line, but I handled one wedding where the mother-of-the-bride was pregnant. Some rules just don't work in j Utah," he laughed. Naturally, there are going to be unique situations in every wedding and if the rules cannot be followed without causing friction or hurt feelings, feel-ings, by all means bend the rules. The most important result should be that the wedding day is the happiest hap-piest imaginable for the families and friends involved and most importantly im-portantly for the bride and groom. |