Your wedding day should be one of happiest days of your life. There’s a chance, though, that some of your relatives will pass away sometime before the day arrives. Many couples choose to remember these relatives on their wedding day. One way you can do so is to mention deceased in the wedding program. A small mention in your program is respectful and can mean a lot to both families.
1. Make a list of the deceased relatives you want to list in your wedding program. Most people choose to only list members of the immediate family, such as parents, siblings and (possibly) grandparents. Whom you choose to list can be determined by the relationship you had with those individuals, as well as how long you want the list in your wedding program to be.
2. Decide where in the program you want to place the names of the deceased. Most people choose to place these mentions at the end. This is done to separate the melancholy portion of the program from the celebratory section.
3. Choose a format for your deceased relatives’ names: either paragraph form or a list. If you choose to make a list, you may want to divide it into two columns. The first column can list names and the second can explain how the person was related to the bride and groom in such forms as “brother of the groom,” “grandmother of the bride,” etc.
4. Decide on a heading or introduction for this section of your wedding program. Possible headings include “We Remember” and “In Memory Of.” Instead of a header, you can also write a sentence or two, such as “We remember those who are no longer with us.” This sentence will then be followed by the names of your deceased relatives.
How to Acknowledge Deceased Parent(s)
in Your Wedding Program
in Your Wedding Program
In this example, the Father of the Bride is deceased and the Mother of the Bride is remarried. If the mother was deceased instead, you would list her first, above the living father (and step-mother if he was remarried). You can list them under the wedding party section in the following way:
Parents of the Bride
Mr. and Mrs. John William Doe
The Late Mr. Roger Smith
Mr. and Mrs. John William Doe
The Late Mr. Roger Smith
OR
You can just list the living parent in the wedding party and put something under the dedication like this:
Dedication
On this special day in our lives, we lovingly remember Mr. Roger Smith, Father of the Bride.
…or something like this..
The flowers on the altar are placed to the glory of God and in loving memory of Mr. Roger Smith, Father of the Bride.
…or this…
The candle in the narthex burns brightly in loving memory of Mr. Roger Smith, Father of the Bride.
