Memorial table at the wedding

I think it's a beautiful idea! My friends did the same thing. Their theme was dia de los muertos anyway so it tied in but having a memorial table fits with anything if it's what you want to do.

We had one at ours. I included pictures of my great grandfather & great grandmother, even though I never met my great grandfather. He is an important person in our family history and we still talk about him a lot. My husband included pictures of both his grandparents even though he never met his maternal grandparents.

I think memorial tables are very sweet and thoughtful, I don't think they're weird at all. FH and I are fortunate enough not to have lost hardly any close friends or family members, but we would definitely have this at our wedding if someone we loved wasn't able to be with us.

I think it is a know your audience kind of thing.

I didn't do this at my wedding because I knew if there were pictures of my grandparents, all of who we lost in the last five years, were displayed my mother and aunts would be emotional messes on what is supposed to be a happy day. Instead we did tiny tributes such as, my bouquet was wrapped with lace from my maternal grandmother's dress and a string of pearls from my paternal grandmother, my husband wore my maternal grandfather's cuff links, a gift from my mom, and I gave him a wolf pin to represent his paternal grandfather. Sometimes these tables can seem more like a funeral than a wedding with all the pictures, like 5+, the issue of how far back do you go and how do you not offend Aunt Betty by not including her late husband who passed 20 years ago, or do you include your great-grandparents, great-aunts, great-uncles....etc.

We are doing a memorial table. However, FH and I are older, so the number of family members we have each lost over the course of our lives is a lot! So, with that in mind, we each had one person we really wanted to honor. As much as we love our families, there were only two people who we both desperately wish could be there with us. FH's father, and my mother. So, our memorial table will be small, but will have photos of the two most important people in our lives.

My parents had never heard of a memorial table either, but I'd seen them at all the weddings I've been to recently so I think it's a relatively recent thing that's now become pretty common. We had one and all the relatives really liked it.

Memorial Table

Of course the picture got taken before the candles got lit. Oh well.

I actually went back and fourth over this because I didnt know if people would think it was weird. I decided to have one because I think the sentiment is really nice. Ours has a sign from etsy that says "we know you would be here today if heaven wasnt so far away".

I think this is very much a personal/know your crowd issue. Personally, I think memorial tables are kind of weird/creepy in many cases, but we tend to be more private/personal people, so not our thing. Daughter had many small details that were meaningful to her regarding loved ones who are no longer with us (e.g., her flowers were wrapped with fabric from her grandmother's wedding dress so "gramma would be holding her hand all day," both the groom and FOB were carrying handkerchiefs that belonged to her beloved "papa" so he could "wipe away" any happy tears, and a penny from the year both sets of her grandparents were married was tied to her bouquet, etc.), those things all meant a lot to her, but she had no memorial tables, empty chairs, etc. Go with what is meaningful to you.

I was about to post this but i'm glad you did. This gave me so much ideas. I wanted to do something like this and this has really helped me. Thanks.

I don't see anything wrong with a memory table, but keep in mind that it might be upsetting to some family members. It's very sweet you want to remember and honor them, but just be aware it might make a joyous occasion feel more solemn to some guests