How to Kiss at the Alter
By Danielle M Baker
"The Wedding Lady"
"You may kiss the bride."
You have heard that phrase hundreds of times. In fact, I have said it hundreds of times, or something close, such as: "Please share your first kiss as a married couple" or "You may seal your marriage with a kiss."
As much as we like to think of kissing as spontaneous, you would be surprised how much thought some brides put into the kiss. Having to contend with make-up, big dresses with trains, shyness, performance anxiety, and possibly conservative relatives, there is often talk in our consultations of how they will kiss and for how long.
I have also seen every kiss imaginable between bride and groom at the altar: A peck on the cheek, a hug, a fist bump, a long kiss on the lips, a series if kisses on the mouth, a full open-mouth tongue kiss, kissing through tears of joy, and kissing so passionately that friends and loved one scream, "get a room."
Everyone has their own feelings about kissing and their individual preferences about public smooching. This is something to be aware of on your wedding day. With that in mind, come up with a comfortable way to kiss at the wedding altar. Have a blast practicing!
1. Consider you and your Fiance's level of comfort with public affection. If
this is not something you or your fiance are used to, you can do a very
small, brief kiss just to seal your nuptials. I have married more than
one bride who kissed her beloved on the cheek at the end of the
ceremony, and that was just about as much that either one of them could
handle as they turned beet red.
2. Is one of you a bigger kisser than the other. Some couples
don't see eye to eye about kissing at the wedding. She wants a big passionate
smooch, he thinks it is embarrassing, and so on. It is good to get a
sense of which way things will go on your big day, before the big day is here.
Hell hath no furry like a woman whose lipstick has been smeared, kissed off or just ruined
before the photos are taken of the couple walking back up the aisle. Guys, her color may not be your color. 
3. Think about your family. Are your mom and dad
affectionate with one another in public? Will seeing a big, wet wedding
kiss make your grandmother faint? Does your family clank wine glasses
with spoons or ring bells demanding that you kiss? Some couples adapt
their kiss to the comfort level of the family.
4. Go For It. When everything is said and done, it is your
wedding and you can kiss any way you choose!
There is no right or wrong way to kiss on your wedding day. Like
anything else in the ceremony, having a sense of how you would like to
kiss and be kissed can relieve any "performance" pressure.
In truth, the kiss is the big moment when you can sigh and say, "The ceremony is over... and we are married!" I hope your wedding day kiss is perfect!
