Alternatives to walking down the aisle

I'm not sure the pre wedding mingling idea would work as the room will be full of chairs and you wont have much room to walk about so what you might end up with is the two of you stood somewhere whilst every - and each person says hello forming a giant line.

I think a better option is for everything to be "normal" everyone in the room waiting but you both walk down the isle together.

Or if you want to keep each others outfits a surprise you can each walk down separately on your own.

Consider that you will both have to meet with your registrar separately before the ceremony. So if you do want to be in the room as guests arrive then you will be coming and going in turn.

Yes that is right as far as I know its all about making sure you are doing this out of your own free will and not being coerced by anyone. When this is done in the room of the hotel that you are getting ready at with - say your Mum/ bridesmaids everyone is ushered out first.

I think your best option is to get ready together as you planned - see the reg separately as is law and then walk in together -- it will be great !

Yes, it's about 10 minutes each so my husband had his 30 minutes before the ceremony and mine about 15 minutes before. In mine they went through the information on our marriage certificate to make sure nothing had changed such as names, address or occupations, confirmed the names of our witnesses, ran through the order of the ceremony and how they would feed our vows to us in short sections, asked if I wanted them to tell our guests to keep their phones away and not take photos during the ceremony, and then asked me how my nerves were and if I had any questions. Our registrars were set up in a room next to our ceremony room so I came in with my Dad and they had no issue with him being in the room with us during it. Once we were finished, they went next door and left my Dad and I in that room until they were ready for us.

So I would suggest asking your venue what room will be used for this meeting, and how it will work with you and guests moving around the building at the same time (if you decide not to see your guests beforehand). I had an issue with being told to go meet the registrars when guests were still moving into the ceremony room so they would have seen me. I had to hide round the corner whilst they were ushered in and the door closed so I could move past into the side room.

You will also want to factor it into your getting ready timetable so you are ready to go when they want you.

My husband and I walked in together. We had considered being already at the front as people came in, but we realised that a lot of people look forward to the bride's 'big entrance', so we felt that walking in together would feel similar enough that folk wouldn't be disappointed.

If you don't want to walk in together, is there space for two aisles so that you can each walk down one and meet at the end?

Me and my FH have decided to walk down the aisle, but separately. He's going to walk down with one of his groomsmaids, then it'll be another of his groomsmaids with one of my best men, then another of my best men with the dog haha, then me and my groomsmaid last.

Groomsmaids not heard that one before - very good.