How to Involve Your Brother in Your Wedding

While ultimately your wedding is about the love you and your future spouse share, it also tends to be a celebration with your family and friends. Otherwise everyone would elope! Sisters of the bride are often maids of honor or bridesmaids, for example, and one or both parents will escort the bride down the aisle and give a toast. However, even in modern times with an increasing acceptance of feminism and same-sex marriage, weddings tend to hold people in pretty strict gender roles. So if a bride has a brother (or a groom has a sister), it’s not always clear what role the sibling should take. Yet, brothers and sisters can still have close relationships and be good friends, so for some brides it’s important to make sure their brother is honored in the big day. If you’re in this situation, see the suggestions below for ideas to incorporate your brother in your wedding. 

- If you want to keep the genders separated for the ceremony, perhaps your brother could be a groomsman. Just make sure your fiancé is okay with this. If they’re friends, it shouldn’t be a problem!
- On the other hand, if corresponding attendants aren’t a huge deal, you can have your brother be a bridesman or even serve as your man of honor.
- Ushers aren’t as common for smaller or more casual affairs, but if you’re hosting a formal or black-tie wedding, having your brother(s) help guests to their seat during the ceremony can be helpful. Not to mention that it will help make sure attendees actually receive the programs you ordered!
- Should you choose to have a poem or passage read as part of your service, your brother would be a great candidate to do a reading.
- While most guests do not want to sit through a large amount of speeches, there is no harm in having a beloved sibling offer a quick toast.
- If you are going the traditional route and having your dad walk you down the aisle, your brother can escort your mom during the processional. 

Discover what you need to know to have a friend officiate and modern alternatives to the receiving line.