MEMORIAL SIGN WORDING
Need help crafting the perfect wording for your Memorial or In Loving Memory sign? We're here with a free guide to putting together the wording of your dreams to honour a loved one that's no longer here on your wedding day.
Honouring a loved one at your wedding
Celebrating your wedding day when you can't have a deceased loved one with you is a heartbreaking and bittersweet experience.
It's becoming more and more common to have some small acknowledgement of your lost nearest and dearest on your day, and honouring the memory of a loved one on your wedding day is a beautiful way to keep them with you as you say I Do.
We've put together a handy PDF guide with some great memorial and in loving memory wording templates to make this hard task just that little bit easier.
Including a deceased loved one on your wedding day is a wonderful way to honour them.
The knowledge that you won't be able to share a huge milestone with one of your best-beloved family or friends is a heartbreaker of a thing; knowing they aren't physically there to celebrate this gigantic, joyful event isn't fun. But there are so many small or heartfelt ways to keep their memory alive on your wedding day - here's a few of our top tips.
Choose how to honour your lost loved one in a way that is meaningful to you.
This might be as simple as including a small sign on a table at your reception with candles and photos of those you've lost, or even having a small pendant or brooch to pin to a bouquet or wear close to your heart as you walk down the aisle - we have a range of both beautiful In Loving Memory signs and Memorial Jewellery to pick from.
You can be as subtle as you need to be about honouring a deceased loved one.
If you're more the type to keep grief private and don't want to have a memorial table, think about including one of their favourite songs in your reception playlist, or including an accessory or colour that was one of their favourites. If they had a favourite poem or were known for a witty one-liner, see if you feel comfortable working that in to your vows, speeches, or ceremony readings, if you're having them.
Be prepared for the emotions to hit.
No matter how long or short time has been since you've lost them, be prepared for getting a big ol' slap of emotion - this might be sadness, bittersweet joy, regret that they aren't with you, even anger. Just know it's okay to feel all the feelings; and don't forget that they loved you and would be so proud of you, and if they could they'd be right there cheering you on.
Chat to your celebrant about your memorial ideas.
If you want to acknowledge your loved one during your ceremony, your celebrant is the best person to help you figure out how to do it - or do it on your behalf as they marry you and your love. All celebrants - especially here in Australia - will do more than just weddings, they'll do end of life celebrations and memorials as well. This makes them the best resource you can find, and they can also help you craft wording if you want to save the memorial speech for the reception - you can then have your MC say it for you, if you feel you can't.
There's no wrong way to include a memorial in your wedding.
Well, almost no wrong way - you don't really want a feature-length film, a 20 piece brass band and a parade of elephants to acknowledge the loss of a loved one. If anything it'll be hell on the venue and you don't want to deal with those damage fees.
To get to the point, you need to make sure you feel comfortable, that you have the emotional bandwidth for your planned memorial, and that it'll make you feel more whole and loved. It doesn't need to be a grand gesture, or one that's super small - it just needs to be a way of honouring your loved one that makes you comfortable and that makes you feel like they are there in spirit with you on your wedding day.
Triple-check your details and wording!
It never hurts to get a second and third person to check your wording! You get so used to what you've written that your brain automatically scans the first and last letters of each word, so you may skip any tiny typos just because you've been looking at your wording for too long. So get friends or fam to do a check for you just to be safe.
And that's it! Quick, easy, and not as scary as it looks, right? Right! But as always, if you need a bit of a hand or some suggestions to craft your perfect memorial wording, just get in touch. We love to chat and we're always here to help!
