Ushers and Readers

We're not buying gits for ushers or readers. I've done both of those roles and never received nor expected anything. Not every wedding I've been to has had ushers, so I don't think there's a hard and fast rule of 1 per 50 people, but if that's what you're comfortable with then that's as good a way as any to make your selection. We'll have two ushers for about 65 people, but that has more to do with who we want to include in the wedding than feeling like ushers are necessary.

We had one usher which was my husband's oldest nephew. He didn't really do the typical job of an usher though. He is one of four and his younger siblings were our ring bearer and two flower girls. We included him as an usher because we wanted him to feel included in our wedding since his siblings were. He was supposed to pass out programs as our guests arrived, but our venue messed up and set the programs on everyone's chairs when they set up the chairs for the ceremony. He helped his brother walk down the aisle instead which was totally fine because his brother was only three and seemed scared at first to walk down the aisle. I will say we went to a friend's wedding and they had two or three ushers and there were approximately 100 people there. I would say 1 for every 50 people is a good rule of thumb to follow. As for readers, that's totally a personal choice. My husband doesn't believe in God, but I do. I knew we weren't going to have a very religious ceremony so scriptures from the bible were out of the question. I asked my grandmother who I am very close to if she would want to write a poem that she could read at our wedding. She was always writing poems for special events so she was thrilled when I asked. It was one of my favorite parts of my entire wedding ceremony because it was something very personal since she wrote it herself. At my brother's wedding, he had a couple read from the bible and then the pastor's children sang a song during their ceremony so it is really up to you what you want. As for gifts, we gave the usher the same gift as the groomsmen and I gave my grandmother a necklace with a cute quote that expressed how important she is to me.

We didn’t have ushers and I honestly haven’t been to a wedding that did have them since I was a child in the 90’s. I do disagree with PP though. Anyone who takes the time and effort to be a part of your ceremony, especially ushers who are actually doing a job for you, should receive a thank you gift. Gifts should be dependent on the person. Your 9 year old nephew isn’t going to appreciate the same gift as your 32 year old cousin.

We had 100 guests and 0 ushers. I have not been to a wedding with ushers in quite a while.