Female ushers?Or other use for friend not in wedding?

Traditionally I think usually men are ushers but in this day and age, who goes with tradition any more! But if you want your friend to feel included you can maybe have her do a reading of a poem or scripture (if you are religious) during the ceremony as a way to include her. Or if she's organized and trustworthy have her as your Day Of coordinator. Let her make sure your day goes as planned and has all the phone #'s of the vendors to make sure they are where they need to be.

Guest book is usually the job given to girls that are not in the wedding. i know its a lame job but i wouldnt have a girl as an usher

I have seen this once before, but you could maybe use her as your personal attendant instead?

Well, I'm having my brother's gf and my sister's bf be the ushers, and maybe my younger female cousin... had never heard that women couldn't be ushers. To be honest I just asked them cause they'll just be hanging around while the family takes pictures and it gives them something useful to do... :-)

I would ignore traditional and ask her if that what you want. The question is does she want to be an usher. Since it is typically a male role, she my feel uncomfortable.

Thanks. What does a personal attendant do? How is this different from a maid of honor?

I am not having my fiance's sister as a bridesmaid so my FMIL suggested using her as an usher. I think this is perfectly fine and who is really going to care and say "oh my gosh, they have a GIRL as an usher!"?! Go for it! It'll make your friend feel like a part of your big day

Your groomsmen should be the ushers. If you're low, then there's no reason why you can't have some female ushers as well. If you're lookinf for a special task for your girlfriend, here's a suggestion....you could have her be your photography helper. For example, when it's time to take the traditional family photos, she's the one that rounds everyone up for the photos...sometimes a very necessary thing since they sometimes tend to scatter. She could also help with your dress & veil placement for photos...most photographers will do it, but it would give her something "special" to do. I would make sure to get a special photo of just the two of you regardless of what position you give her in your wedding....it would make her feel appreciated. Don't forget that if you give her a task, a little token of thank you would be very nice. Good Luck to you!

I have never seen a female usher before. So would you have her escort the man to their seat and have the woman follow behind? Your friend could pass out the programs and greet people as the arrive. For those people who are not avid wedding goers she could tell them which side belongs to the bride and which side belongs to the groom. But that would only be needed if you have no ushers and people seat themselves.

I have too many girlfriends... this is what I am having them do. 1 Guest Book, 2 Program/Attendants to guests, 1 video tape, 1 hair & Make-up (She is a professional, so... this might be outta the question! HAHA!) 2 verse readers, 1 Personal Attendant to Sorority Sisters.

Use them where you want them! I might have to move one to Usher cause the FH best man is a dud and will probably not show for the wedding!

@ Jamie J. - why wouldn't she just escort the couple together, like have the couple follow her to their seats? I guess I haven't been to that many formal weddings, but is the usher supposed to take the arm of the woman that he is "ushing"?

Anyway, our ushers are just going to be greeting people and giving them programs, nothing too crazy or gender-specific. It's pretty obvious where the seats are, so I think our guests can just seat themselves :-)

Yadayada...haha one year my FH and I went to 12 weddings!! I have been to so many weddings my head spins. At the more traditional weddings the male ushers will ask whether they are here for the bride or the groom. And then he will offer his arm to the woman and take her to her seat and her husband (or date) will follow. I have also seen what you are talking about. Whoever hands out the programs will tell the guests which side is for the groom and which side is for the bride and they can seat themselves. In that case it wouldn't matter if the "usher" is male or female.

I don't see anything wrong with having a girl walk as an usher... I was in my friend's wedding this past July... Him and his wife picked mostly girls and only 2 guys... In order to even it out, they had HER friends and family wear purple gowns and walk as BRIDESMAIDS... Then they had HIS friends and family wear black gowns and walks as GROOMSWOMEN... Even though that's not exactly my style, I thought it was a pretty cool idea! So I would say just follow your heart and do whatever it desires!

I have been to a million weddings and have seen both male and female ushers. You can easily have the female ushers hand out programs nad greet people, and then have the males escort people to their seats. I've seen in done that way at some very fancy and traditional weddings (black tie and more than $200 per plate). There's no reason not to!!

Interesting. I guess I was picturing more like how they do it when you go to the theater, where nobody takes anyone's arm, the usher just shows the couple the seat. Honestly I'd feel weird taking some random groomsman's arm esp. if my FH was there!!!

PS - 12 weddings, wow! And I thought I had it bad with 3 weddings this summer (and my own coming up!)

One more thought: having someone at the reception place to direct people to the room where the reception is and show them where cocktails are might be helpful and a good way to use your more outgoing female friends. My wedding coordinator suggested this, as it makes them feel helpful and is helpful to your guests! (our cocktail hour is outside of the ballroom so we want to make sure people don't take a wrong turn and end up wondering where the food/booze is!). I've also seen having these "helpers" sit at the head table as a token of appreciation if you are into that!

Thanks, everyone. I don't think we're going to have programs. This is pretty low key in a garden.

What do you call male helpers on the program? I was going to list as House Party, but I everything I have read says the House Party are females. We have two that will be doing various duties.