Wedding March

The wedding march hymn is perhaps one of the more familiar hymns in western civilization. A hymn that signifies the start of the walk of a bride and her loved ones gathered around her to see her in the most memorable gown she would ever wear. In a center of the big awe of the crowd you see the bride takes a tumultuous walk in the aisle. Then the wedding march is complete.

The wedding march is one of the most traditional processions of any culture. Whether you go to the Far East, the indigenous people in the Pacific, Muslim wedding celebrations, and even the Amish, wedding marches have always been a solemn, mandatory feature. Wedding marches can take many forms. The groom can dance while walking to the procession to please the bride in cultures where the female is more dominant. In other weddings, the groom also walks up, gold and other treasures in hand, signifying wealth for years to come.

In the Christian western sense, the tradition of a bridal march has a whole new meaning. The walk on the aisle signifies the surrender of the bride to her husband as the groom surrenders his life for a more prosperous journey together. The slow walk with each meaningful step should reflect the past moments of the bride’s life leading up to this day. For some it is a shift from purity and innocence of a girl to a more daring life ahead. As we witness, a wedding march can mean a lot of things.

Whatever it means to us, the most important insight about a wedding march is what it means for the bride. In all exhilaration and charm, the bride nervously heads up to the altar with the groom looking on. We question what might the bride be thinking while being in that spotlight. What does every step mean for her? Only a bride on that right moment can answer that for us.

However, we can guess. Maybe she is nervous that she might slip? That might be a safe assumption. Perhaps she is giggling inside, knowing that she dreamt of this all her life. With each gush and huff, the eyes of the groom meet him with loving and piercing gaze.

Whatever abstract we might think about a wedding march, the nearest word that can describe this fleeting moment is – a dream… nothing more, nothing less.