Honoring deceased father

I would do a bouquet charm like this. You could ask a family member what his favorite slow song was and use it for your processional.

I love the idea of a photo in your bouquet also

Hi there Adrienne!

I adore the photo charm idea for your bouquet. You can find a ton of seller who make these on Etsy.

I think walking down the aisle to one of his favorite songs, or a song by his favorite band/artist is a lovely idea. Do any ideas come to mind straight away?

If you’re looking for other ways to honor him on your day, this WeddingWire article has some great ideas - 10 Ways to Honor Loved Ones Who Have Passed Away.

DH met me at the end of the aisle and we walked down together.

He gave me a Locket with a picture of my Mom on one side and “She’s always with you” on the other side.

You could always get a little pendent for your bouquet, as well as have a front row seat reserved for your father, along with a photo, a sweet saying, and a white rose! That’s what I plan to do to honor my grandma and our groomsman that passed away recently!

If you have some of his old clothing you could also have a piece sewn into your dress. I really like the bouquet charm as well.

I am using the charm, but attaching it to the heel of my shoe, so he is still "walking" with me.

View Quoted Comment We also have a groomsman that passed away recently. Are you saving them a seat in the audience or leaving a space for them on the stage?

I love the idea of his picture on your bouquet. You can also reserve a seat for him up front. You don't even need a picture, maybe an object that reminds you of him can be placed on the seat.

I wore a locket with my dad's picture in it, and danced with my brother to the song from which my dad gave me my nickname. The empty chair is a nice gesture, but his loss was right at the surface throughout wedding planning for all of us, so I didn't want anything to make it worse . . .

View Quoted Comment We are saving a seat in the front row for the ceremony, and a seat at the head table for the reception!

They sell like small locket/frames you could wrap around your bouquet with his picture in it! or if you have maybe an old shirt or something you could wrap it around your bouquet.

bouquet

I love this idea, I am was very close with my grandpa who passed last month, and I have his rosary, so I will encooperate this in my bouquet. He was also a big Red Sox fan, and I am thinking about using his hat in some way.

My family is getting a picture of my grandfather blown up and going to place it in the seat where he would of been sitting at. You can always do the bouquet photo also but I would keep my bouquet instead of throwing it at my reception if you are doing that.

Seriously, I am in tears. First, thank you for posting this question. Second, so grateful for the suggestion of putting a picture of my Dad in my bouquet. Finally, if anyone sees this any suggestion for the groom who lost his parents besides putting a photo of them on a chair?

View Quoted Comment

I love the idea of saving a seat with a photo. My fiance and I have been trying to come up with a way to honor someone as well and this seems like a great idea!

Honoring late mother

My mother was going to be that person for me, and she too passed away in March of this year. I am incorporating her into my bouquet as well, but wish to honor her by placing a sheet over where her seat would have been with a touching sign signifying her presence.

Thank you for posting! I didn't think of the reserved seats. I will add that to my solution. Photo charms seem a little macabre for me, so I will have roses in the center of my bouquet, in the favorite colors of my dad, my grandad's (who raised me) and fh's dad (all deceaded).

I have a handkerchief of my Daddy's being added to the handle of my bouquet and i think thats all I will be able to tolerate without ugly crying..

Thank you for asking this question and all of the great ideas that have come out of it. My dad died during my senior year of college and father-daughter dances at weddings always make me cry. I want my day to be a happy one and have my dad have a place without feeling like there is an empty void because he isn't there.

I'll likely walk down the aisle solo or with my mom or maybe have our dog walk me down the aisle.

I'm planning on bringing my dad's ashes to our wedding and may ask if we can spread some of them on our outdoor ceremony site or nearby.

We are also either going to skip parent/child dances entirely or we are going to do one dance where I'll dance with my mom, my FH will dance with his mom, and his sister can dance with her dad (my future SIL is almost 40 and single, and their dad isn't in the best health so it will give them a chance to dance together in case that day doesn't come in the future). We don't love the drawn out nature of all the dances anyway so this will cut that down.

We are going to include photos from our parents' weddings in our photo display area, since both of our parents had lasting marriages.

My engagement ring has two sapphires that flank the diamond in the center (both my FH and my dad had September birthdays and sapphire is the September birthstone, so I think of it has my dad handing me off to my love, even though my fiance didn't plan it that way).

I love the ideas of charms or a handkerchief in the bouquet.

I've been to weddings with empty seats, and one of the more recent weddings I went to had a life size cutout of a brother who was away on active military duty and couldn't be at the wedding. To me having an empty seat seems like a really painful reminder of the person that isn't there. Personally, I prefer the more subtle inclusions, but to each their own. Do what feels right to you.