My Half- Sister is getting married in early June. We lost our father to pancreatic cancer in October and her mother passed away due to a massive heart attack in March. We have already decided that her brothers and myself and my sister are going to "Give Permission" for the marriage. Now we are dealing with the issue of getting her down the isle. Originally her oldest brother was going to walk her down the aisle, but after thinking about it, she would rather walk down alone with pictures of her parents or something along that line. The idea of carrying 8x 12 frames of pictures of her parents doesn't appeal to her. Does anyone have any creative ideas to still have her parents "walk" her down the aisle? There will be framed photographs of them up by the Unity Candle, as well as pictures of the Groom's grandparents that have also passed on.
2009-04-23T10:44:48Z
After looking at all the suggestions and talking it over with my sister, she's going to have lockets with pictures of her parents on her bouquet, 2 flowers just for them (their birth flowers) and the processional is the song they danced to at their wedding. The recessional is going to be the song her fiance's grandparents danced to. Thanks so much for all the suggestions!
Emily D2009-04-21T10:20:05Z
Favorite Answer
She could put tiny frames ( like locket sized or a little bit bigger) into her bouquet. Craft stores tend to have something like this in the scrapbooking area. You could put the pictures into the frames then adhere the frames to florist picks and either have the florist set into the bouquet or do it yourself. She could also have them hang down from a chain. I was at a wedding where the bride incorporated a small piece of each parents clothing into a cloth bouquet wrap and had lockets dangling from it. It was lovely and kind of gave her a private moment with her parents on her wedding day. She could also carry a locket with each parent in it in each hand and take a moment to set the lockets on a chair in the front set aside for them (maybe on a small pillow). These lockets could also be attached to her garter. She could wear them around her neck, the groom could remove them and they could "seat" them together. She could also have whoever is doing her alterations create a tiny pocket over her heart where her parents could be during the wedding. Good luck to you both. I hopes this helps. Here are a few links with pictures and purchasing information:
I am so sorry to hear of your loss. That can be really tough. Here are a few ideas. I lost my mom 2 months before my wedding. She used to write poetry for my dad. They were high school sweet hearts anyway she wrote a love poem that we used as our vows. I read half then my husband read half. Then also my husbands brother had passed away and we wanted to honor him as well. His favorite book was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. We then had mentioned in the wedding program why we chose both of those.So we had someone read that. The fun thing about weddings is that you can really do whatever you want. Did your mom have a favorite flower? You can put those all around the church. Do you have anything special that reminds you about them a saying, a song, a story? You could also write your own about their love and how you vow to share the same with your future husband. Now as far as your fiance's son walking you down the isle. I am not sure I agree with that one. But if that would mean a lot to you then do that. It's a unique way to have him part of the wedding. Do you have a brother or Uncle or even a friend that means a lot to you? They could also walk you down the isle.
Even though the parents will not be there in body, they will most definitely be there in spirit. Her parents will be in her thoughts as well as many of her friends and family's thoughts throughout the day. I like the idea of having a locket with their photos attached to her bouquet. It keeps them close to her and it is subtle.
My dad died before I got married too. I wanted the wedding to be a festive occasion and not maudlin. The way that I recognized my dad throughout the day was that I had his favorite hymn played as everyone was coming in to the church. No one else but my family knew. A certain song was played during the reception. After the reception, my family took my flowers back home with them and placed them on my dad's grave. All of this was done very quietly...there was no announcement and no notation in the program. The only public recognition of my dad that day was the intercession prayers. During these prayers, we pray for the deceased and my dad was specifically mentioned.
As for walking down the aisle, that was tough. Eventually, I decided to walk down the aisle alone. But to emotionally get to the place without turning into a sobbing mess at the thought, I first imagined a series of ridiculous things...like instead of an aisle runner, it was a slip & slide. Or riding in on the back of an elephant...sort of like at the circus.
I like the first answerer's idea, or using the locket pictures to put with the bouquet. But my answer is similar to Tricia's. My father had passed away two years before my wedding. I had an older and a younger brother, but didn't want either of them to walk me up the aisle - and my mom didn't want to do it. An option is to walk alone -- but I didn't want to do that, so my husband and I walked up the aisle together, and it was just lovely! We had our attendants walk in as couples before us. I only mentioned my father when I gave my thank yous at the wedding reception - I wish I had thought of doing what Tricia did with the flowers...
Have her walk down the aisle alone and maybe play a special song that reminds her of her parents or a song her parents had at there wedding? And of course have the pictures up at the alter near the candles