Grooms father not around

dunna

Hi,
Getting married in a few months and my OH dad passed away when he was young.
Just wondered what other people have done in this situation?
i.e. at the head table?
i.e. Parent(s) being welcomed into the reception venue?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Many Thanks

Senna

Probably best to ask the mother of the groom what she would like to happen.
Some couples might have an uncle or brother or someone else close sit in place of the father. Or maybe just put the father of bride along with the mother of groom. Or even have the priest there to keep things even.
Usually you wouldn't announce the parents when there is one missing, just have them sit at the table and announce bridesmaids, best-men, B&G.
Just do what ever everyone's comfortable with, there is no set protocol that has to be adhered to.

Neyite

The mother of the bride at a recent wedding I attended was escorted up the aisle of the church by her eldest grandson, and the bride had her brother escort her.

In the reception it was just the bridesmaids and groomsmen, and bride and groom that was announced into the room - priest, brother, parents were already seated at the table.

hoodwinked

at the head table you could either have uneven numbers at one side, or choose someone else to sit beside her,


for the reception, just announce the bride and groom entering and have the parents sitting down already.

you really can choose whatever suits yourself as there are so many variations done these days.

Zulu

My mum sadly wasn't there for my wedding. Thankfully our priest is a close family friend so he sat with dad at one side. My wifes parents sat at the other side, and my wife, I, bestman & bridesmaid sat in a row.
We had the table in this format: |_| and the parents were facing each other, with us in the middle.

boogaloop

I would think just ask them to announce the bride & groom only.

For our wedding, it is starting to look likely that there won't be any parents present. OHs parents & my mother have passed away, and my Dad has dementia & may not be able to make it.

Just wondering in our situation (sorry for hijacking thread OP!) who we should ask to sit at top table to 'balance out' the priest?!

Alternatively I guess we could always consider a circular 'top table' - I'm not totally comfortable with the thoughts of looking down at our guests from a height anyway

Dolbert

boogaloop wrote: »

I would think just ask them to announce the bride & groom only.

For our wedding, it is starting to look likely that there won't be any parents present. OHs parents & my mother have passed away, and my Dad has dementia & may not be able to make it.

Just wondering in our situation (sorry for hijacking thread OP!) who we should ask to sit at top table to 'balance out' the priest?!

Alternatively I guess we could always consider a circular 'top table' - I'm not totally comfortable with the thoughts of looking down at our guests from a height anyway

You could have a 'bride and groom' table with just the two of you in the centre, I've seen it done that way before and it was lovely.

LBD

Hey there

Unfortunately both my OHs parents had passed away before our wedding. My OH eldest sister and her husband sat up at the top table in their place and his sister made a speech on their families behalf (I know it's not necessarily tradition for the father or mother of the groom to speak but it was a lovely touch given the circumstances). We had a photograph of his parents on the table and on the altar at the ceremony in memory of them...

We didnt announce the parents but I hadn't realised that was tradition.... My dad chose not to wear a bridal party suit as he felt it would make the absence of my OHs dad even more evident! That was his personal choice though.

Do whatever makes you and your OH comfortable, as previous posters said there is no particular protocol. I just made sure to try and include little touches here and there as I knew my OH would really miss having them with him.

Miaireland

My Grandfather passed away a few months before my Uncle got married. The Bride and Groom asked my Grandmother if she would like someone in particular to sit at the top table. She asked one of her son in laws.

beltzar

Both my father and OHs father passed away since we got engaged, so we are thinking of having no top table and for us to sit at a round table with family / friends in the middle of everyone.
Either that or just the two of us, best man and bridesmaid at the top.

sillysocks

We had a circular top table, but without people sitting on the two seats nearest the rest of the tables if that makes sense. There were just flowers on that end of the table so it didn't look bare.

I think it worked great - everyone could chat to each other very easily, and we didn't feel 'on show' like I think I would have at a straight top table. We could still see all our guests, and it worked fine for the speeches as well.

Shivers26

My husbands father just decided not to come to our wedding a couple of weeks before it.

Both sets of parents are separated / divorced / remarried so to keep it simple we had no parents on the top table and just let our parents sit with their own partners / family / friends and they were all happy with that. We just had ourselves announced into the room and we also had an uneven top table with the priest but we didn't mind.

Just suit yourselves, if you really want to have parents at the top table then just ask your hubby to be and his mother what they would like to do and I'm sure you will sort something out.