the center, and to which the side aisles. If it is
a big church with side aisles and gallery, and there are only six ushers,
four will be put in the center aisle, and two in the side. Guests who
choose to sit up in the gallery find places for themselves.

Often, at a big wedding, the sexton or one of his assistants guards the
entrance to the gallery and admission is reserved by cards for the
employees of both families, but usually the gallery is open to those who
care to go up. An usher whose "place" is in the side aisle may escort
occasional personal friends of his own down the center aisle if he happens
to be unoccupied at the moment of their entrance. Those of the ushers who
are the most likely to recognize the various close friends and members of
each family are invariably detailed to the center aisle. A brother of the
bride, for instance, is always chosen for this aisle because he is best
fitted to look out for his own relatives and to place them according to
their near or distant kinship. A second usher should be either a brother
of the groom or a near relative who would be able to recognize the family
and close friends of the groom.

The first six to twenty pews on both sides of the center aisle are fenced
off with white ribbons into a reserved enclosure. The parents of the bride
always sit in the first pew on the left (facing the chancel); the parents
of the groom always sit in the first pew on the right. The right hand side
of the church is the groom's side always, the left is that of the bride.

[Illustration: A CHURCH WEDDING
"In the city or country the church is
decorated with masses of flowers, greens and sprays of flowers at the ends
of the six to twenty reserved pews." [Page 354.]]

=SEATING THE GUESTS=

It is the duty of the ushers to show all guests to their places. An usher
offers his arm to each lady as she arrives, whether he knows her
personally or not. If the vestibule is very crowded and several ladies are
together, he sometimes gives his arm to the older and asks the others to
follow. But this is not done unless the crowd is great and the time short.

If the usher thinks a guest belongs in front of the ribbons though she
fails to present her card, he always asks at once "Have you a pew number?"
If she has, he then shows her to her place. If she has none, he asks
whether she prefers to sit on the bride's side or the groom's and gives
her the best seat vacant in the unreserved part of the ch