In America, last to arrive at the alter is the bride. In England she is first. But whatever the timing of the arrival, a wedding march has been part of the wedding ceremony ritual since the beginning of time.

Since the wedding party must arrive at the place where the wedding is to take place, the processional was inevitable, only its form has changed through the years. And while the progressive bride might think shes doing something rather unique by arriving in a horse-drawn carriage, progressive brides of the past have been known to arrive at church on horseback, veil and hair streaming behind her.

The less affluent, or perhaps more conservative, tended to walk to the church surrounded by friends, family, and a few special people who would give a touch of class to the whole proceeding. These touches would come in the form of children dressed in silks and satins, and conveying a practical symbol of fertility. The symbol of fertility would be further underscored by the older guests who might carry garlands of wheat or even a cake. While informal in its aspect, it had all the meaning of the current, well-rehearsed, wedding march.

Above all, the processional meant a lot of noise as talented guests beat their drums, squeezed out piercing melodies out of their bagpipes, and fiddled away to their hearts content.

Unlike today, the wedding march procession tended to collect more and more participants as it progressed. Like vampires drawn to warm blood, farmers, tradesmen, shopkeepers, their hands still full of their occupation, would join the noisy crowd. Many of the lucky symbols thrown at the unsuspecting couples included corn or wheat or, indeed, any sort of seeds being planted. Caught up in the moment, there would also be the odd horse shoe or even nails, by the blacksmith interrupted amidst his labours.

While it was a lot of fun for the bride and groom to make their event known far and wide by the noise that accompanied them from home to church, it was actually as practical a gesture, as it was a decorative one. If somewhere in the future one of the spouses were to suggest that perhaps the marriage had no legitimate status, the other spouse could call upon dozens of people who could swear on a stack of bibles that they had seen the wedding, heard the wedding, and had even been part of the wedding.