Witnessing a wedding ceremony is not exclusive to adults. On the contrary, the participation of young children as part of the bridal party is equally important. The wedding guests anticipate the departure of these adorable angels that signal the beginning of the ceremony. Dressed in matching dresses and shoes, often with flowers in their hands, these flower girls are fun to watch as they throw flowers on the carpet and along the aisles. Not to be outshone are the handsome pageboys who are dressed to near perfection by their proud parents. Don’t be put off by the angelic looks of these flower girls and page boys because, given the chance, they’re bound to cause a bit of chaos during the wedding. Chances are you’ve seen a child throw a tantrum or simply freeze just as the wedding is about to begin. The page boys might even pull a trick or two on a clueless florist!
Pages are so named to indicate their role in a wedding, which is to serve or attend to the needs of the bride or groom. In British royal weddings, the presence of pages is essential and they play an important role. A page may also be used during a cotillion (a formal introduction of young ladies, debutantes, to polite society), but this is done primarily for effect. At a wedding, a page boy’s part has been created to accommodate the young male relative of the bride or groom. It can be a younger brother, a cousin or a nephew. It is quite normal at any wedding to find that the entourage is made up mostly of members of the family of the couple to be married. In some cases, the young male children of friends may be requested to be the page if there is no suitable relative. The Page is the male counterpart of the Florist.
In general, children from 5 to 10 years of age can be part of the children of the page. A child younger than that can cause a disruption during the wedding march or the ceremony itself, while someone older can seem awkward and no longer cute on the eye. The bearer of the rings is considered a special page since he is in charge of carrying the rings that will symbolize the union of the bride and groom. It should be noted that the term “ring bearer” has been adopted instead of page boy, as it is more descriptive of what the boy is holding in his hands. He is still considered a page but with a special participation. This is also appropriate to distinguish the ring bearer from other page boys who may be present at the wedding. In the old days, the bride was expected to wear a wedding dress that had a long train. Since the extra length could result in a heavier gown, the bride has the burden of dragging her train. The page boys should be there to help her run that train. Nowadays, we rarely see a bride with a long train, so the special page, who is the ring bearer, is the only one we see at a wedding.
Weddings certainly aren’t complete without a page boy in tow.
