I would like to have the labels not above the input field, but on the left side.
I think this is what you want, from the bootstrap documentation "Horizontal form Use Bootstrap's predefined grid classes to align labels and groups of form controls in a horizontal layout by adding .form-horizontal to the form. Doing so changes .form-groups to behave as grid rows, so no need for .row". So:
Fiddle: http://jsfiddle.net/beewayne/B9jj2/29/