Any professional wedding officiant with a substantial level of experience can share a story or two of wedding ceremony fainters. My personal favorite is the wedding I performed where the maid of honor saw the best man starting to wobble and subsequently executed a perfect swan dive between me and the couple to catch him as he went down.

While fainting episodes make great Monday Morning Quarterbacking stories for officiants and offer great material for the bride and groom to tell their grandkids someday, most people would like to avoid being the faintee on such an important (not to mention well-attended) occasion.

Some tips for staying upright

• Eat. This is not the time to save your calories for the reception.

• Drink water. Staying hydrated will prevent light-headedness.

• Sleep. Don't party the night before until the cows come home. It's a recipe for disaster.

• Avoid alcohol before the ceremony. A glass of Champagne might calm your nerves momentarily, but too much (especially on an empty stomach) will leave you woozy.

• Keep the temperature of your ceremony location cool and comfortable. Think about this when choosing a ceremony site. If your wedding is to be in July in Arizona, you'd better opt for an indoor, air-conditioned location. And if you have your heart set on getting married outdoors, but wake up on the day of your wedding to 90 degree temps, you will want to opt for an air-conditioned Plan B. It's not just rain that should move your ceremony indoors; heat should be considered as well.

• If you're the type to get nervous when the attention is focused on you, take a few minutes before the start of the ceremony to do some anxiety-reduction exercises. Breathe deeply, meditate, visualize, do jumping jacks--whatever it takes to keep you calm.

• Don't lock your knees when you're standing during the ceremony. Doing so means an increased risk of hitting the ground.

• Remember--fainting does not generally strike from out of the blue. You won't be standing upright and feeling fine one second and then "BAM!" hitting the floor the next. If you're going to take a dive, it will definitely sneak up on you gradually. So, for heaven's sake, if you're in the wedding party and feel yourself start to sway, get lightheaded, experience a feeling of vertigo or your vision starts to blur, you're sweating profusely, you feel nauseated or just "not right" then discreetly hightail yourself out of the line of sight and sit down. Barely anyone will notice if you quietly step aside during the ceremony and take a seat, but trust me, EVERYONE will notice if you take a swan dive off the altar.

• Of course, this last tip assumes that you are an auxiliary member of the bridal party and not an integral player in the process (e.g. the bride, the groom or the officiant). If it's YOUR wedding day and you're in front of 200 of your nearest and dearest proclaiming your lifelong commitment to your beloved (no pressure!) then the only thing you can do is call a temporary halt to the proceedings, take a breather and return somewhat refreshed. It's rare for the bride or groom to be the fainter, and you can certainly minimize the chances by following the tips outlined above.

And if you are the officiant and feel faint, then the best advice I can give you is to investigate a different line of work.

If someone does go head over teakettle at the wedding ceremony (assuming it's not you), here's what should be done.

• If you are the bride or groom, let someone else handle the situation. It's not lethal to the fainter--only embarrassing and maybe painful if they conk their head. This is your wedding day, so let someone else step in to manage your swooning friend.

• The best folks to deal with the fainter are the other wedding party members (the upright ones).

• First and foremost, be aware. Wedding ceremonies are prime environments for a faint. Be aware of your fellow bridal party members. If you see anyone exhibiting the symptoms above, then gently ease them off the "stage". They'll be forever grateful that you helped them avoid a "fall from grace" so to speak.

• If someone does collapse, more than likely, by the time you get to them, they will be conscious. I've never had one fainter at a wedding that was totally out cold for more than a few seconds. If they can get up with your assistance, quietly guide them to a seat and motion to the officiant that all is fine and that he/she should continue with the service. There's nothing worse for everyone involved that to over-dramatize the fainting spell and get everyone's knickers in a knot over it. Simply handle things with poise and grace and everyone will thank you for it.

• If the person can't be moved, then do your best to shield him or her from the guests. More than likely, several people will rush over to help, so use their bodies as a natural barrier from the crowd--especially if the fainter is a bridesmaid whose dress has gone up and over her head during the fall!

• Loosen any tight clothing (on the fainter, not you).

• Your goal is to get the fainter's head lower than his/her heart. Get him or her into a seated position and, place their head between their knees. If that's not possible, then elevate their legs slightly if they are in a supine position (that's fancy speak for lying down on their backs).

• See if the person has hurt anything in his or her fall (on their body, I mean. If they took out a flower stand or dented the floor when they hit, that's really not your concern.

• Apply moist cloths to their head and neck. Do NOT throw water in their face--this will only make a mess of his rented tux or her expensive dress and undoubtedly make the fainter really angry at you when they get their wits back.

Here are some more Don't's

• Do not stand idly by wringing your hands and screaming "Oh my God, Oh my God!" The person has fainted, not received a fatal gunshot wound to the heart. Deal with it.

• Do not shake or slap the face of the fainter. See notes on throwing water above.

• Do not yell, "Is there a doctor in the house?". In spite of the drama involved in a faint, it's not usually serious unless the person has a medical condition or hurts themselves physically during the fall.

Note: If the faint is more than your run of the mill wedding nosedive, then certainly seek medical attention for the victim. If they don't regain consciousness quickly, are bleeding profusely, have a possible concussion or are shaking uncontrollably, then admit you're out of your league and seek medical treatment (for the fainter, not you). While I've never seen this level of faint happen in 10 years of performing weddings, it is a possibility.

Then, once all is well and the hapless fainter is back on his or feet, you can all troupe off to the reception for a well-deserved cocktail hour.