Ushers guide and assist guests at events such as weddings, concerts, and theaters. They ensure things run smoothly and comfortably, distribute programs, answer questions, and sometimes pass collection baskets. Ushers historically attended festivals and processions and were sometimes appointed officials.
An usher is someone who acts as an escort. Ushers have a number of roles, depending on the context in which they work. When it comes to ushers, many people think specifically of the theater usher, who guides people to their seats and assists them with problems during the show when they arise, but there are other types of ushers as well.
The word comes from the Latin ostium, which means “door”. As this root word would imply, ushers are interested in hospitality. They work to ensure things run smoothly and comfortably during events. As well as working in theatres, ushers can also be found at weddings, sporting events, concerts and churches, ensuring that guests find their seats and that their needs are met.
It is not uncommon for large buildings such as stadiums and opera houses to maintain their own staff of ushers. Ushers know the building intimately and typically know the building’s evacuation plan along with basic first aid in case of an emergency. Ushers are usually easy to identify because they are uniformed and carry flashlights so they can help people in the dark.
In addition to simply seating people, an usher may also distribute programs for events, answer questions, help people find themselves in a seating section, or perform other tasks. In churches, ushers often pass collection baskets and sometimes assist the minister in preparing for the service. For events such as weddings, family members can volunteer as ushers, as they will be able to recognize guests and seat them properly.
In very formal wedding parties, ushers are part of the groom’s party. In this sense, an usher is an assistant to the groom, and typically knows the groom closely. The tradition of including ushers in a wedding party is quite ancient and is believed to derive from superstitious beliefs about evil spirits that attack the wedding party; if the groom were surrounded by a group of similarly dressed men, the spirits would not know who to attack. Ushers typically look after the guests at the wedding party, acting as proxies for the bride and groom, who are technically the hosts of the event.
Ushers, historically, also attended other festivals and processions and were sometimes well versed in protocol to ensure they could be of service. In some cases, an usher was actually an appointed official who ensured guests at formal events were introduced to one another and kept an eye on the door to ensure the integrity of the guest list was maintained . Such ushers also worked in the formal quarters of judges and royalty as guardians.
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