Tribute at wedding to deceased dad?

Using something of his as a charm in your bouquet would be a lovely tribute. That way, in a way, he could walk down the aisle with you.

My friend had a locket in her bouquet with her dads picture. I'm not sure what I'm doing yet for mine though :/

We put an In Memory section on our programs with their names listed that read:

"To those that we know would be here if Heaven weren't so far away:

We thought of you today, but that is nothing new. We thought of you yesterday and the days before that too. We think of you in silence and we often speak your name. All we have are memories and a picture in a frame. Your memory is a keepsake, for which we'll never part. God has you in his arms and we have you in our hearts"

I also borrowed one of my grandfather's handkerchiefs and had it tied around my bouquet.

The rabbi we are thinking of using suggested we have a pre-lit candle on the table and he would say that it was to honor my FHs mom, our grandparents and others that we lost. He has it written in such a way that it wouldn't mention specific names just their relationships to us. Not sure if our Priest has a different idea since we haven't discussed it with him yet.

I also like the idea of a little trinket. A jewish bride gets married with a plain band so I might use my grandfather's wedding band for the ceremony (in memory of both him and my grandmother) and then switch to the wedding band FH is getting me after the ceremony.

FHs dad passed away. We plan on having a table with a candle and pictures of him along with other family members who have passed. I also have an old blue shirt of his dad and sewing it into a half heart with the other half being my dads (he isn't deceased but still liked the idea) and sewing it into the inside of my dress. Its my something blue.

Tributes make me so sad

I would do something personal for you. Maybe a handkerchief tied to your flowers or made into your dress?

I love all these ideas, thank you! I definitely think we will do something with pictures as my FH dad also passed away, maybe use our parents wedding pictures. I had always heard people did a charm or handkerchief... thanks to your comments I now see how sentimental this is as they are "going down the aisle" with you.

@Melissa- the shirt heart idea is really sweet. I might steal it Would be such a good way to incorporate the something blue and both of our dads.

FH's mom passed away a few years ago. I want to find him the perfect little locket/pin for him to have close to his heart on the inside of his jacket. I might even get one for FFIL. Someone on here gave me the idea. I loved it. We won't be doing the empty seat or a memorial table. It is just too much for us.

@melissa-I love your something blue idea. I saw it on Pinterest!

@MrsPope- I feel the same way! I don't want to make the guests feel sad, so I think the the best option for me would be to incorporate something in my bouquet or dress and maybe putting the wedding pictures of both of our parents on our sweethearts table-- facing the two of us.

We had this in our program

"As we celebrate, we also remember members of our families who cannot be with us today; they are here in spirit, in our hearts today and every day. We remember them with love."

And then we had a picture table with my grandparents' pictures and a large canvas of FH's brother. His brother's pic was much larger than the others, but he was the only one who died too soon.

@SarahMarie- there is a vendor on pinterest that takes the handwriting of people and engraves it into things, like cuff links, etc. I was thinking of doing that for my FH, getting his initials in his dad's writing engraved into cuff links for him to wear.

I am going be making this

The empty seat freaks me out. And FH hated that idea. But he likes the picture table since it will have other people, not just his dad.

@Natasha steal away! Like @sarahm said I saw it on Pinterest and fell in love with the idea. Its simple and can be on the inside or bottom of your dress so no one will even notice it.

ETA: @Natasha I found someone on Etsy that makes keychains in someone elses writing. I found an old card that FH kept from his dad and borrowed it. I took some of the stuff he said in the card and "Love Dad" and turned it into a keychain for FH to have with him all day.

@stevi that is beautiful, thanks for sharing!

@melissa the empty seat is a little depressing to me too. i think i may have seen the same pinterest vendor- i absolutely love that idea! its so sweet and thoughtful.

My dad passed away when I was 10 months old so unfortunately I didn't really get to meet him. However, I think about him constantly. I wanted him to walk me down the aisle so badly so I put a charm on my bouquet with his photo in it. My grandmother & aunt were also at the ceremony (his mom & sister) & I didn't want to make the day more emotional than it already would be for them so I didn't leave an empty seat or have anything specifically said during the ceremony but I did type up a little handout that was passed out as guests entered the church. It had a dedication poem/prayer on it that I found on the internet for my father so people could read it on their own time.

"Dear Lord, please clear a spot for him. He should have the perfect view.

His little girl is a bride today & I am counting on you.

Let me feel his presence as I journey down the aisle

But let me notice his abscence if only for a while.

Let me stop to think of him as I am given away

And know that if he could; he would be here with me today.

Dear Lord please clear a spot for him, he should have the perfect view.

And if he should get sad today; Dear Lord I count on you. "

Of course I miss all our relatives that have passed but there are quite a few of them to list & I wanted something specifically special for my father.

I had a memorial table & section in my program. My mom walked me down the aisle and I had a memory charm in my bouquet. We subtly played a song that reminds me of my dad during the reception, only a few family members knew about it so it was a nice moment for us without overwhelming our guests.

@ Tania & Jason - that is such a sweet idea! Thank you for sharing

@Emily - I love the idea of playing a song for him during the reception and not making a big deal of it, so that it stays personal. Will definitely do that!

It's very reassuring to hear that you all found ways to honor their dads in ways that were special to them. Thank you everyone for sharing with me- it's comforting to know that I am not alone!

I think that's wonderful. We are actually having a small table at our wedding for "In Memory Of.." for all of our friends/family that have passed away too soon. I think its a great thing to honor someone you love on such a special day!