Sad without dad and family...

I feel you. My mom and dad have both passed and one of my sisters is estranged from the rest of the family. We are only having family at the wedding so, needless to say, my side is pretty damn small. I also wanted to elope but FH wanted a ceremony with his family there. My son will walk me to my FH and for the rest I'm just dealing with it the way I've dealt with our whole relationship...feeling sad that my parents will never meet this amazing man who has changed my life and made me so much happier than I could imagine but being grateful everyday for him and feeling like they somehow know and are around anyway.

Hugs! It's sad thinking about it now during planning, but I'm hoping your day will be so full of love, joy and happiness that you will be able to think of them with joy, knowing they would have been smiliing ear to ear for you and are still with you today.

Do you think it's inappropriate to invite my siblings mother (my dads ex)? She is an extremely sweet and kind person but my own mother is not and is already starting drama at even the thought she'd be invited. My half sister has special needs and does not drive so I'm absolutely fine having her mom drive and attend if she cannot find another ride. Totally not my original post but it goes to the whole I don't have a lot of family to speak of...

Thinking of you. Remember this day is about you and your husband and the love that you guys have for each other. I have a brother who special needs and I can't imagine not sharing my day with him granted I'm not in the same situation think long and hard about this and no matter what it'll still be your day

Yeah I feel ya.. I have very little family compared to my FH, but I have a very close knit group of girlfriends where he has very few friends. So while I am sad that I only have my 2 sisters and 1 estranged aunt.. he has an huge extended family of parents, siblings, 10 aunts/uncle's, cousins, grandparents. He has 2 friends while i have almost the same amount of friends he has family. So I guess in ways we are both lucky and lucky to have each other

@spiff we have a similar dynamic! I have more friends than family while he has more family than friends. Because it's so uneven we are forgoing a wedding party and just having our children with us

I come from a huge/local family (60 family guests does not include any parents/aunt/uncles/cousins) & FH will only have his parents & brother's family attending. All of his other family are invited; but OOS. I know it sucks for him & I feel guilty sometimes; but IDK what we can do? Also his parents just retired/moved OOS last month & it's been hard on him : (

ETA: Mother's Day is always a tough one for me & I know I'll be crying at some point/not having her around on our wedding day; but...just like Mother's Day, I will plan on going for an early morning walk & just acknowledge what I 'm feeling/how much it hurts. Once I get that out of the way, I tend to handle the day so much better! Just an idea...if you think it might help on your wedding day.

This day is about you and your FS, creating your family with your children. Our wedding is at 60. Small family here too. Only family I have is parents, brother and grandmother. FH has 30 close family members coming to the wedding.

I say definitely invite your half siblings mother, especially if you get along with her. We are inviting FH exSIL and her mother lol. Divorce was several years ago and both are very nice to us. I'm all for inviting those you want to share the day with.

Thank you for the advice, I feel a bit better after realizing others are in the same boat!

I also lost my father and sister, and my mom is currently going through cancer treatments. Out of 50 guests (we invited 100 total), I will literally have 3 family members there... 3! Everyone else are friends. On my FH side, he has about 2 friends coming and all the rest are family. Im not sure if you consider 100 guests a small wedding, but for Latinos it is. More than anything, I feel very sad about my dad not walking me down the aisle, so im trying to keep my thoughts superficial to help me cope (the food is amazing, i oove my dress, the centerpieces will stand out etc.). That may not be helpful but it at least keeps me distracted.

My wedding is exactly 55, which is perfect because I wanted a small intimate wedding. I don't have a lot of family in the US and most of my friends are on the other coast so they can't come. I feel for you, but try to remember those 55 people love you and want to be there to celebrate with you.

I'm very sorry for your losses. Planning a wedding unfortunately makes loss like that more apparent. I have a VERY small family, as well. Over the years we've lost many family members. I have 1 surviving grandparent, 2 surviving cousins, my parents, and my brother. While you may be missing your loved ones that day, you will still be surrounded by love and support.

I'm so sorry for your loss. My dad passed away 2 weeks after I got engaged. I've got a big family but his absence will still be so obvious. I hope on your wedding day and every day you'll feel surrounded by love even if you're missing some special people.

I am so sorry!! I am in the same boat. My mom passed in august and it is so hard planning a wedding without her. The only family i now have is my dad, aunt, uncle and one nephew. Everyone else is gone or not in my life. We are having only 50 guests at our wedding. Im here if you need to talk.

I never even noticed how very little close family I had until we started planning our wedding. My sister and my grandparents are my 3 rocks. Both of my parents come in and out of my life and I'm not close with any aunts, uncles or cousins with the exception of my grandmoms sister. My grandfather was just diagnosed with cancer and my grandmoms been declining for some time now.. between that, and looking at our guest list on paper and realizing it's almost completely FHs family, I really understand the loneliness that you feel. I always wanted a wedding, not a huge one, but one like we're planning, but looking back part of me wishes we had chosen to elope. Its nice hearing that others are in the same boat.

Thank you for the support, I think I'm going to invite my siblings mom or open the door by giving my sister a plus one. My FH loves my dads ex-wife as do I and he absolutely backs me up on this decision. We are paying for most of the wedding ourselves too so that helps to call the shots. My mom thinks it's fine to bring her boyfriend (who she started dating 6 months after my dad passed) so she need to chill on the dramatics. It's just tough, I know I'm gaining family but my FH while he has a lot of family, they are not the greatest family to speak of. Ugh, family stuff is so difficult!