? about your weddings
 

Were your groomsmen also ushers or did you have totally different people doing that?

We had 2 ushers in addition to our groomsmen

what's the difference?

We did too.

The ushers normally seat people
Sometimes groomsmen do this too

My fiance is having 3 groomsmen, with his two brothers as co-bestmen. My brother, the third groomsman, will help seat people. However, we also asked two of my fiance's close friends to be ushers and help seat people.

Ushers are in charge of getting people to their seats. Groomsmen just walk up the aisle w/ the bridesmaids - they are basically male bridesmaids. Since it takes guys a lot less time to get ready than girls, the ushers and groomsmen often are the same people.

We had four groomsmen and four separate ushers. They were all friends of the husband.

The main responsibility of groomsmen is to attend (basically stand with) the groom during the ceremony. They may also have informal responsibilities -- planning a bachelor party, being responsible for decorating the get-away car, acting as escorts for bridesmaids at pre-wedding events or the reception, etc.

Ushers show people to their seats before the wedding. Often (as in almost all the time, in my experience), the groomsmen act as the ushers.

I had no ushers aside from my groomsmen. I have been to a few weddings where the groomsmen acted as ushers but where there were also a few extra ushers. My nephew's wedding last year was the first wedding I ever attended (in 40+ years) where the ushers were an entirely different group from the groomsmen.
Maybe it's a regional thing (or maybe I'm reading your post too literally-- quite possible, I admit), but I've never seen groomsman walk up the aisle with bridesmaids. I'm used to seeing (and doing, the times I have been a groomsman) the groomsmen come in first, followed by bridesmaids. They do escort the bridesmaids out, though.

Side question: Although I don't always see this tradition followed, it is very much the tradition in these parts for the groom to ask his father to be his best man. Do people see that elsewhere?

I've only ever seen groomsmen one time, and they walked up w/ the maids.

I think this is definitely a regional or maybe a city vs. country thing.

I had 7 groomsmen, and they served both functions. Before the ceremony, they ushered people to their seats. During the ceremony, they stood next to me. They walked back up the aisle with the bridesmaids after the ceremony was completed.

I usually see groomsmen escorting the bridesmaids up the aisle...except the best man/maid of honor. He's usually waiting at the front of the church with the minister and groom, and she walks down alone.
I went to one wedding where the bridesmaids kinda of "danced" their way down the aisle alone, and their groomsman met them at the front, escorted them to their spot, and they went back to their spot next to the groom

We had a small wedding, but wanted to make sure all of our siblings had a part. I have 4 brothers, no sisters; DH has 1 of each. His sis was a bridesmaid, we had 2 groomsmen (my youngest brother, and my husband's brother), and 2 ushers (my two oldest brothers). My brother Tommy performed the ceremony.

We wanted a small wedding party, so we had a Best Man, Maitron of Honor, Junior Best Man (an 11 year old is just too old to be a ring bearer in my opinion) and a flower girl.

I wanted my brothers involved in the wedding, so I asked them to be ushers (seat people). They rented tuxes so they didn't have to buy suits. I gave them the choice. Just before the women walked down the aisle, I had my FIL usher my NanaIL, my oldest younger brother seat my MIL, my 2nd brother usher his older sister and my baby brother usher his baby sister.