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Thanks to Tara for sharing this photo with us. This photo along with her description is a really great example of several ways to memorialize a lost loved one at your wedding…
“This is my Brian bouquet. Brian (one of my best friends) passed away last December. If anyone were to walk me down the aisle it would have been him. I put his picture in my bouquet and I know he was with us in spirit. We also said a prayer for him at the begining of the night and played Take On Me (one of his favorite songs) at the reception. It was a great way to remember and celebrate him during our wedding. “
And here's a shot of Tara and the bouquet in action…
Beautiful memorial ideas Tara! Thank you so much for sharing them with us and I hope that it gives some of you who've lost someone close to you some ideas on how to still include them in your wedding.
About the Author: Megan Finley Horowitz
When Megan's not writing, traveling, and sleeping, she's eating like the fate of the world depends on it. (You're welcome, world!) You can snoop into her personal life over on her website The Dash and Dine!
What a beautiful bouquet and memorial (and bride!). At our wedding we had a reading by Shel Silverstein, whose poetry book I loved reading at my grandparents’ house as a kid. My grandparents have all passed on, but we still have that book in the family. Having our reader use it was a way of having my grandparents present.
The minister also had us all take a moment during the ceremony to acknowledge all of those people who shaped our lives but couldn’t be here that day. We didn’t know he was going to do that, but it was so special that he did. Both of our families have experienced many deaths in the past few years, most of them around the time of year we had our wedding.
A very special touch. I myself just got married a month ago and both sets of grandparents passed years ago. So I had small pictures of the four of them hanging from my bouquet. I felt them with me as I walked down the aisle.
I think the bouquet is a great idea. I didn’t carry flowers, but rather a tiny white Bible, and pinned ribbon and one of my grandmother’s brooches to it, she had passed away the year before.
I love the bride’s dress and shoes.
I work for a bridal magazine (and two others!) and here are some things brides have done to memorialize someone using flowers:
– Wrap the bouquet with an heirloom handkerchief or rosary
– Pin photos in the center of flowers
– Set up a basket in the crowd with a photo, and each guest or bridal party member adds a flower to the basket
– Create a bouquet of the person’s favorite flowers and include a small memento
I love this idea – and the bouquet! Can we find a tutorial for it?
We are including touches of purple in the bouquets and boutonnieres of the groom and his mother to honor his brother, who passed a few years ago, and have a note in the program describing the use of purple in the decorations to honor those who are no longer with us.
I considered adding names of those who have passed recently, but I wanted to have the purple represent everyone who has built the foundation of our lives and our relationship, whether recent or long-passed (all my grandparents had died before I was 7, for example).
I also felt that not naming anyone left the opportunity for our guests to remember those who were important to them. Because all those who pass leave a legacy; people we never met helped those we love to become who they are today.
Thank you for sharing. I’m trying to figure out a way to incorporate my child into the wedding and I thought about the bouquet as well. Are there any other things you did to have Brian at the wedding in spirit?
I wore a locket with my dad’s picture in it. It was a cloverleaf locket since he was of Irish heritage. My mom was the only one who knew what my necklace was. I wanted something quiet and personal.
I’d like a way to incorporate my father into my wedding, but I don’t know if I can go through with it because I think any reminder will make me break down in sobs. 🙁
My father was killed last year and I am placing a chair at the reception with a flower on it. The chair will be in the corner (where he would have sat and watched) and is reminder to me that he is with me in spirit. My grandmother also just passed away suddenly, so I have kept the corsage I ordered for her, and it will be placed on the front pew of the church where she sat. These are both visual reminders for me of people I love, and who 6 moths ago, I thought would have been at the wedding.
What a wonderful idea. My best friend Mike was killed a year and a half ago and I have been wondering how to incorporate him into our wedding. What we decided to do was leave a chair open for him as well as our grandparents who are no longer with us in the church. At the reception, we are going to have a little table set up with pictures of everyone who is with us on the day in spirit which will also include friends and family members who were unable to attend.
I feel for this bride. One of the last convo’s I had with Mike was about his tux he was having made to wear while walking me down the aisle. Bravo for your strength.
For the ceremony, I am placing a small bouquet on a chair where my brother would have sat (he died 6 years ago). I am also wearing a pin that was my grandmothers.
For the reception, I am including placecards for family members who are no longer with us (grandparents, my aunt, and my brother). Instead of having a table number, their placecard will say “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
This is lovely. My dad got sick recently and by the end of a long struggle, he ended up in a St. Louis hospital with colon cancer. He had surgery to remove several feet of damaged intestine. He won’t be out of the hospital in time for my wedding, but he told us not to cancel. I’m going to use this idea and attach his picture to my bouquet. I’ll have my mom or brother to walk me down the aisle, but my dad will be there in spirit. And on Skype 😉