Abouuuuut face!

[nacho_cheese]

Has anyone had or will anyone have their officiant stand with his/her back to the audience, so the wedded couple is facing the audience (even indirectly)? I've always thought it was weird to have the couple standing with their backs to the audience, considering everyone's there for them and not for the officiant. ;) I just wanted to know if anyone

Comments

[etoilepb]

We thought about it but it ended up being too awkward to do.

That said, in most non-church weddings I've been to, the bride and groom are actually side-on to the watchers and sometimes face-on, rather than butts to the audience. (The only time I've really stared at a bride's rear throughout the whole wedding is at Catholic weddings.)

That's also something to consult with the officiant. Some are comfortable with their backs to the audience (particularly any with backgrounds in ensemble conducting, hehe) but some really, really don't like the idea. (When we raised it with ours -- a good friend -- he kind of put a, "I love you but hell no" on it.)

[nacho_cheese]

That's a good point. :) At least sometimes in non-Catholic weddings, the couple is face-to-face (and thereby to the side for the audience). I'll also have to ask our officiant if that's possible -- I don't see why not, but apparently, some have a problem with it! LOL

[etoilepb]

I've just remembered the other half, which is: depending on your temperaments and your friends / families temperaments, you may be better off not looking much at them during the ceremony! Matt and I both realized almost as soon as we started that the only way we could make it through without both bursting into tears was to stare at each other and pretend the other 65 people weren't there!

Though you can do that facing most (not all) directions. ;)

[michellyaqua12]

Haha, this is true. I looked at my mom's face once during the ceremony and never again. Even during the rose ceremony, I had to avoid eye contact because I knew for sure I'd cry if I looked at her long enough. I think I even said, "Stop making that face!" when I hugged her. After the ceremony, the first thing my bridesmaids said to me was, "OMG your mom's face made me want to cry!"

[kayeyem]

...we had our chairs set up so there were three sections, and in a circle around us...so no one really had a full...rectal? view. ;)

Most everyone was looking at our "side" when they looked at us, and either the officiants face...or back of his head.

[nacho_cheese]

LOL, "rectal." XD

Do you happen to have a photo of what you're describing? I'm having a bit of a hard time picturing it. :)

[kayeyem]

http://www.pictage.com/584512

Look at picture number 17.

;) It's before it was totally set up for the day/decorated, but you'll sort of see what I mean.

http://albumesque.com/albums/shannon_kaple/kimberly_peter/ is a slide show...some of them show the setup, but not super well? ;)

[auroraceleste]

I think it's important to think about sound. I suspect the officiant faces the audience because in pre-microphone days facing away meant no one could hear him. If you could compensate for this I don't see why you couldn't change things around, your venue's layout depending!

[nacho_cheese]

Ah, good point! I'm hoping for a microphone set-up, but I've got to ask the venue first. Thanks!

[wingsonmyfeet]

We did it, and I loved it! It was great to look out and see all of our friends and family looking at us (well, the one time I wasn't looking at my husband!). I have always really disliked the bride and groom with the back towards the "audience" and this way we got beautiful pictures and videos.

We had the chairs in a semi-circle around us, and it really worked for us.

[nacho_cheese]

Ah, I see what you did... had the officiant off to the side! I love it! :) Thanks for the photos, they really helped. I'm going to see if there's a way our officiant and venue to accommodate this.

[dizzying_highs]

We haven't talked much about details like this for the ceremony, but my mom suggested we stand facing our guests. I had never thought about it, but after she suggested it I was at a wedding and it did occur to me that it was strange that I was only looking at the sides or backs of the couple the entire time. It's something to consider, for sure.

[nacho_cheese]

True that. :) I just get a little frustrated when I can't see the happy couple's faces... and we're there for the couple! How cool that your mom suggested it, though; I think our moms would think it was too weird if we brought it up. ;)

[dizzying_highs]

Same here. I guess it had just never occurred to me that seeing their smiling, happy faces was actually a possibility! Haha. My mom has really surprised me with how relatively non-traditional she is being. She suggested your idea, bridesmaids in different dresses, etc. Crazy stuff! :P