About half the weddings we photograph are in houses of worship and the rest are either outdoors or in a structure where chairs are set up for the ceremony.
When we arrive at a wedding, one of the first things we do is bring our photography gear to the front of the ceremony set up. Many times, as we walk side by side down the aisle, we’ve noticed that it is really narrow. At one wedding, we even had to walk single file! When we encounter situations like this, we try to get the aisle widened before the ceremony. You don’t want to find out after your guests are seated that you can’t walk down the aisle while holding onto your father’s arm!
There are a few things to think about when setting up chairs for a wedding. Not only do you want the aisle to be wide enough for three people to walk down comfortably, but you want to make sure the spacing between chairs is enough. It is uncomfortable when the chairs are touching each other, it makes your guests feel squished…especially if it is a hot day. Think of leg room as well! Assemble the first row of chairs and then have someone tall test the legroom for the second row, it is so much easier to plan before hand than to rearrange chairs after they are already set up.
Another little detail to think about when determining aisle width is if anything else will be decorating the aisle. Laying down edges of rose petals or hanging decorations from the backs of the chairs will require the aisle to be even wider.
And if I may go a little off topic…think about if you need chairs at all. We have seen two weddings where the guests stood the entire ceremony. Granted, the ceremonies were 7-10 minutes long! But this is a nice option for small, short weddings. What I love about this is after the couple walks down the aisle, the guests close that gap and create a beautiful intimacy as they listen to the officiant. Then when you’re pronounced married, the guests open up an aisle again for you to walk down. The weddings we have seen where this was done looked really cool! (but remember, small, short weddings and have chairs for grandparents!)
I’ve included a few favorite aisle pictures just for fun =)
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