The Wedding Ceremony Kiss

In the course of your wedding day there are several possible awkward moments. The cutting of the cake, the garter toss, walking up the aisle, and, of course, the wedding ceremony kiss.

Traditionally, once you are pronounced husband and wife, the new husband lifts his bride's wedding veil and then goes in for the kiss. Don't mess this part up. Here are some tips to help with this potentially embarrassing moment:

1. Watch out for that veil. When lifting the veil, take your time so that it does not mess up the bride's hair, get caught on any beads or decorations on her dress, get tangled in her earrings, or smudge her makeup. Take both of your hands and hold them out towards your bride with your elbows initially at your sides. Slowly and deliberately move both hands up and grab the lower edge of her veil. Make sure each hand has a hold on the veil. Now this part is key. Slowly start lifting that veil so that you can put it over her head. You want to do this almost in slow motion so that it is dramatic for your guests and so that you can easily tell if it is getting caught on something and make adjustments in your movements. As you get to the top of her head make sure you clear the top of her head and hair! Don't get that veil tangled up in her hairdo. You need to go up and over. Once you clear the top, you're pretty much home free.

2. Practice the approach. You should do some practice runs of the "kiss approach" prior to the wedding. Some people tilt their heads to the right, some to the left. You don't want an awkward, mixed tilt where one of you zigs when he should have zagged. Most right handed people will naturally tilt their heads to the right when going in for a kiss. Make sure you're on the same page on this so you don't bump noses.

3. Open or closed mouth kiss? I know you're both in love but please remember that there are children in the room. Do you really want to play tonsil hockey up in front of all your family and friends? Save it for the honeymoon. You want to go for a closed mouth kiss of a reasonable time duration. Don't do a little peck like you're kissing your grandma. You want everyone to see the kiss and have the whole crowd have time to let out a collective "ahhhhh". Press your lips together and count to ten or however many seconds you feel is right. Err on the longer duration instead of going short. Time has a funny way of seeming like it is going slow or too fast when you're up on that altar. If you get a little flustered, hold the kiss a bit longer. Then you'll be sure to give a nice kiss that doesn't seem too brief. If for some reason your bride starts to pull back, you need to do the same. Maybe her neck is getting stiff or she feels like the kiss is done. Just go with it. That way it won't look like she didn't want to kiss anymore. It will look like a mutually timed ending to the kiss.

4. Go easy on the lipstick. Ask your bride to lightly apply her lipstick. She'll have plenty of photo opportunities to put on full lipstick. You don't want to end up with bright red lips right after the kiss and look like a clown. You certainly don't want to have to wipe your mouth up there at the altar. Talk about it with your bride beforehand so that she knows you don't want to slip and slide all over her lips on a thick coat of lipstick. She'll want to go light on the lipstick because she won't want it to be smeared and smudgy right after the kiss. She needs to keep her face perfect and not get messy. The best way to do this is to go with light lipstick or perhaps just a little clear lip gloss.

5. Take a mint! Please be sure that you both have brushed your teeth with minty toothpaste the day of your wedding. If you've been snacking before your wedding so that you don't get lightheaded in the church, be sure to have a mint before your walk down the aisle. You don't want any bad breath going on during the wedding kiss. This is also an argument in favor of the closed mouth kiss.

Anyhow, I hope this article offers some suggestions on how to pull off that perfect wedding day kiss. It will be a memorable and wonderful kiss. Just like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. Do some practice runs at the rehearsal dinner after you pass out the groomsmen gifts and have dinner. You'll get it and your day will be picture perfect.

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