Victorian Wedding Customs:
Your Attendants and Their Duties

Victorian wedding customs dictated certain roles for the wedding attendants. Most of the responsibilities of today's wedding attendants are the same as they were back in the Victorian era with a few minor exceptions. The following will clarify how the bridesmaids and groomsmen attended the bride and groom. In some of these cases, you may not wish to follow true to form as it would be somewhat inconvenient to everyone involved.

The Bridesmaids & The Maid of Honor in Victorian Times

• Would make wedding favors that they would pin the sleeves or shoulders of the wedding guests as they exited the church.
  
  
• At the reception, the Maid of Honor would stand near the bride to assist her when needed. The bridesmaids stood to the left and right of the wedding couple.
  
  
• The bridesmaids should be younger than the bride.
  
  
• The bridesmaids would stand at the bride's left during the wedding ceremony. The first bridesmaid or Maid of Honor would hold the bride's bouquet and gloves during the ceremony.
  
  
• When entering the church for the ceremony, the bride enters at the left of the church with her parents and bridesmaids following.
  
  
• The bridesmaids often dressed exactly like the bride (with a short veil) in order to fool any evil spirits. This tradition continued until the 1880's, at which time the practice began of the bride coordinating colors and dresses for her attendants.
  
  

• The best man would be the last to leave the church after the wedding. It is his responsibility to pay the clergymen for their services.
  
  
• The best man and groomsmen support the groom by standing to his right during the wedding ceremony.
  
  
• At the service, the groom enters from the right followed by his best man and groomsmen.
  
  
• The best man takes care of all the couple's luggage when they are ready to leave the reception and go on their honeymoon.
  
  

• Little girls were given the positions of either flower girl or ring bearer in the wedding.
  
  
• Boys were given the task of holding the bride's train.
  
  
• Older girls were considered Junior Bridesmaids or given the role of Maid of Honor.