No ushers??!

[bridesmaid101]

I guess I didn't really think about the MEN's aspect of the wedding and now my wedding (in a church) is 2 weeks away and we don't have ushers!

It never even dawned on me that we would need them!!! But now that I come to think of it, at every church wedding or otherwise "nice wedding" (which ours definitely is!) there have always been ushers. I just don't know why we didn't think to ask anyone. And of course now, with it being only 2 weeks away, I'd feel foolish to ask someone so late and they would probably be offended, etc.

My fiance has 1 best man and 2 groomsmen. So I was thinking his 2 groomsmen could help seat people. My fiance was OK with this, but then I was worried that the photographer would need them ahead of time for pictures.

So is it horrible to not have ushers?? Or what should I do???

This new problem comes during a really busy and stressful part of the wedding planning so I could really use your advice and input- thank you so much!:confetti:

[SkippyNXC]

I had the best man and groomsmen serve double duty... DH's best friends wedding did the same thing...

[The Proper Wedding]

First of all, ALL weddings around here never have just ushers. It's always the groomsmen that also usher the guests before the wedding starts. So I say that's perfectly fine to have them do, since that's all we do! Second, I think it would be ok to not have ushers if that's the route you want to go as well. Either way, I don't think you'll need to ask anyone extra. We only have 2 groomsman and a best man, so between the 3 of them, we'll have ushers ;)

Just do whatever you want!! :)

[gwenshack]

We were usher-less and everyone just sat down - we didn't care where they sat though - as long as they showed up. LOL :)
I think it's ok to not have ushers. But if you're concerned about it I'm sure the groomsmen would be honored to serve double duty.

[WebLady]

You don't really "have" to have ushers unless it is a really formal event with lots (like 100+) guests. But it is common for a couple of the groomsment to play this role too :)

[mj512]

We did end up having ushers but only because I have plenty of family that I wanted to include. I think it is perfectly fine to not have ushers.

[FedererPhoto]

I was worried that the photographer would need them ahead of time for pictures.

If your photographer needs your groomsmen for 'pictures' after the guests have started arriving... I feel your photographer is over stepping his boundaries.

The time right before the wedding, say 60-45 minutes or more, is a time for you to do last minute things and, most importantly, think about the fact you are getting married! It's not the time to fake a smile for the photographer.

imho, of course.

Thus -- you shouldn't need to be worried about your groomsmen not being able to 'ush'. :)

[WebLady]

If your photographer needs your groomsmen for 'pictures' after the guests have started arriving... I feel your photographer is over stepping his boundaries.

The time right before the wedding, say 60-45 minutes or more, is a time for you to do last minute things and, most importantly, think about the fact you are getting married! It's not the time to fake a smile for the photographer.

imho, of course.

Thus -- you shouldn't need to be worried about your groomsmen not being able to 'ush'. :)
Yep, most photographers will be done with before pictures about 30 mins or more before the ceremony so that your guests can be seated and everyone can get in place.

You should talk to your photographer about his/her plan for the photo timeline before the big day.

[dodgercpkl]

Depends on what the timeline is though. For instance for my wedding we only have the chapel for a guaranteed 2 hours and our wedding ceremony starts 1 hour after our time starts. Since we (my bm's and I) plan to get dressed there, our photographer will be taking pics upto probably 10-15 mins prior to the ceremony of both myself and Anton.

All of this of course will depend on if we can get there early and just how quickly we can get into our dresses. I do plan on having pics of me and my bm's and my family, and Anton and his gm's and his family (seperately) prior to the ceremony though.

As for the usher situation, I'm not entirely sure what we will do either. I'm thinking that I'll see if my brother would mind the duty, and have Anton's brothers (both are gm's) assist as able.

[sandy03]

Our groomsmen did double duty. This is generally what I have seen.

We had two extra ushers simply because we served communion and had ushers to help direct people for that because it was in the middle of the ceremony and the groomsmen were otherwise engaged! If it weren't for that, it would have only been the groomsmen.

[bridesmaid101]

Thanks everyone for the tips! Not I don't feel so bad to ask the groomsmen to do double duty!!! And I talked with the photographer and everything is cool.

By the way~ 2 weeks from today is my wedding day!!! :-)

[gwenshack]

Thanks everyone for the tips! Not I don't feel so bad to ask the groomsmen to do double duty!!! And I talked with the photographer and everything is cool.

By the way~ 2 weeks from today is my wedding day!!! :-)
Wonderful! What's your first name - I'd love to add you to the wedding timeline (if you're not already on there) so we can make sure to congratulate you properly!

[bridesmaid101]

Wonderful! What's your first name - I'd love to add you to the wedding timeline (if you're not already on there) so we can make sure to congratulate you properly!

Aww, thanks- my name is Jocelyn :)

Can't wait!!! :)

[gwenshack]

Aww, thanks- my name is Jocelyn :)

Can't wait!!! :)
:) You're added!

[f77g4]

We didn't have any ushers and while we had a 100+ people neither of really cared where people sat as we didn't really want sides and it wasn't uber formal. I just didn't feel the need to add more people.

When I got to the church, I noticed that my grandfather took over passing out the wedding programs though since he does it all the time for church..lol

In fact I did have one aunt sit on "DH's side" of the church and my sister (MOH) didn't realize we didn't have sides and there is a pic of her coming down the aisle with this really confused look on her face..lol

Good luck on your wedding day! I hope its a beautiful day!

[WBandMe]

Congrats on your upcoming wedding, Jocelyn!

We also didn't have ushers. My brother did a reading and DH's brother was best man, and I know we had tossed around the idea of asking them to usher but since I was locked away in the back of the chapel until I came down the aisle, I have no idea what ended up happening! But the good news is that whatever did or didn't happen seemed to have worked. :) Don't sweat it!

[weddingbutterfly]

Two of my recent friend's weddings both were in church and both did not have ushers. The only ushers they had were little kids that were passing out the special church book. If you have one special for your ceremony a great option is to have older kids do this. Groomsmen can be ushers. I think they only are necessary if you want guests to sit in a certain place. I do recall my friend was the groom and he actually was so nervous he was out greeting people as they came in and he was directing people on which side to sit. This might have been on account of no ushers or his wife-to-be having a panic attack. Either case it worked out well. So your husband-to-be could always greet guests and just tell them where he'd like them to sit. Again this is one detail that most guests don't pay much attention to, at least in my opinion. Another thing is some churches offer service of their ushers from their other services. Good luck!