5 Memorial Wedding Ideas (to honor your loved ones)

Memorial Day Weekend always makes me think of my grandpa. He was stationed in Japan during the Korean War and that's where he met my grandma. If not for his service, I wouldn't be here.

I know, Memorial Day is for those who died while serving and Veteran's Day is for men and women like my grandpa who served and came home. But still, for both holidays, I think of him.

He passed years before my wedding, before ever getting the chance to know Pete. And, unfortunately, that is how life goes sometimes. People who we want to be at our wedding are sometimes watching from Heaven.

At weddings, you can honor these people. We put together a list of five ways that you can do so.

5 Memorial Wedding Ideas (to honor your loved ones)

1. Memorial Table
If you have photos of your loved ones, you probably have thought of wedding memorial table ideas. There's a simple way to do this. Frame photos and put them on a table with a bouquet of flowers. You can make a sign that says something like, "We know you would be here today if Heaven wasn't so far away" (you can pick one up the wedding memorial poem on Amazon here) and set that in a frame along with the photos. Put the table in a well trafficked area so your guests can visit with those guests.

The table in the photo above was at our friends' Shawna and Frank's wedding. It was so classy and tastefully done. Plus, after the wedding, they could put those framed photos in their home to display them.

2. Flowers To Mary
If you're having a church ceremony, you can do flowers to Mary. Basically, you and your fiance (or husband, depending on what time in the ceremony your presentation is done) walk flowers to a statue of Mary and say a Hail Mary silently as a devotion. This is often done in memory of a loved one, although you don't ever have to say who specifically. That's between you and Mary.

In the same vein, you could light a memorial candle at the church in memory of your loved one.

3. Donation
If you have a  loved one who recently passed, in lieu of favors, you can do a donation in their memory. It can be to a charity that your loved one supported, an organization that is searching for a cause if your loved one had an illness, etc. Whatever you think is best. Just create small cards to go on each table to let your guests know that instead of favors, this is what you're doing.

A photo posted by Lisa (@abrideonabudget) on May 22, 2016 at 10:58am PDT

4. Accessories
Pete wore pink ribbon cufflinks in memory of his mom. In a way, she was with him all day long. We also had calla lilies in my bouquet and as Pete's boutineer since that was his mom's favorite flower.

You could also purchase a bouquet memory charm and add your loved one's photo to it. Little things like this, that no one really knows but you, are really special. They're a way of remembering loved ones at your wedding ceremony without making a big to do about it.

5. Reserved chairs
What you can do at the ceremony is put a reserved sign on seats, meaning those are reserved for your loved ones who couldn't make it. I thought about doing this at ours, but looking out into the church and seeing a big gap would have been too hard for us. I have seen it done with photos of your loved ones too, but for me, it would be too hard.

Actually, this is what the Internet thought happened at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal wedding. There was an empty seat next to Prince William, and the Internet gasped, assuming the photo was for the late Princess Diana. That's not true, even though it sounds beautiful.

Instead, the chair was left empty because it was directly in front of Queen Elizabeth. Any chair that would be blocking her view would be left empty. So it was not for Diana, it was for the Queen's convenience.

BRIDAL BABBLE: Which of these memorial wedding ideas is your favorite?