Planning a wedding is not for the weak or timid. You have to deal with crazy relatives, friends who are not invited yet think they are, and figure out how to plan for a couple hours of your life without spending your entire savings account.
It is a daunting task, and even more exhausting if you are a fatherless bride. Just like a thief in the night your grief sneaks up on you and has a way of making what should be some of the happiest moments of your life the saddest. Checking out possible wedding locations, meeting with vendors, and even trying on your wedding gown are sometimes reminders that a person of significance is missing. Whatever your relationship is with your father a wedding tends to magnify it. There will also be the awkwardly painful but well-meaning questions: "Are your parents excited about the wedding?", "Does he get along with your dad?", "Will your dad be walking you down the aisle?" or “What kind of flower will you be pinning to your Dad’s tux?” Resulting in moments when the grief is so painful that you find yourself downing in enormous waves of grief.
For the blushing bride who is about to walk down the aisle, there are endless exciting details for the big day. Flowers, venue, dress, music, the list goes on and on. It's all rainbows and unicorns with endless tears of joy. But for the bride without a father, there is another kind of tears. Many times there are no words, just a tremendous hole in her heart that aches. It is such a massive void that tears often accompany the happiest moments of wedding planning.
Fathers are such a significant part of a bride’s wedding day. Perhaps the biggest role is that the father of the bride walks the bride down the aisle, giving her away to her new husband. But what about the fatherless brides? Below are some suggestions from one fatherless bride to another.
