I guess that the parents walking the bride down the aisle represents a woman moving from her parents home to her husband’s, but what I don’t quite understand is the parents then taking a back seat to friends and siblings. The friends and siblings who are part of the wedding party remain standing for much of the ceremony. At my wedding both of my parents walked me down the aisle (and both of my husband’s parents walked him) and all of them stood up with us during the ceremony. We also had our siblings and a couple others up there during the ceremony.

Each culture, tradition and religion is different, and I am not so much interested in different practices around the world, although, that would be an interesting Q also, I don’t mind at all if people talk about them here, but most importantly I am curious about the symbolism, and how people feel about it, regarding weddings where the parents sit down while the bride and groom are up there with the bridesmaids and best men.