Alternatives to having parent walk you down the aisle

I know it's your day but i feel that it would be nice if you give your parents that moment. You already know it'll break their hearts. I have seen some where both parents walk them down the aisle or in some cases the mom of the dad passes. I think that's a nice alternative. If not, would you like to walk down the aisle by yourself? Maybe they can walk beside you instead of escorting? Doesn't have to be followed by the question who gives this woman away. Is there a specific reason why you pervert to not have that?

Hmmm I don’t plan on having my parents walk me down the aisle either. I decided not to even have an aisle with a procession.

I am walking alone as well. It’s your day and only about you and spouse. Please do what will make you happy, you won’t regret it. Tell me more about taking in the groom??? I hadn’t heard about this until now.

My 21 year old son is walking me down and my dad fully supports it.

I walked by myself which is was fine with because I never liked the tradition of being “given away” and it felt silly as a 40+ year old bride.


Can you do first look with your parents? The photos would be so sweet! You could also give them a heartfelt letter or funny/sentimental gift. You could also share the father/daughter dance with your mom so they both get a chance to dance with you.

Both my husband and I walked down the aisle with both of our parents. I didn’t want it to be just my parents “giving me away” like a transfer of property. I liked the idea of it being about two families coming together. I added language for our officiant to say once we had all walked in. I had the officiant ask who presented these 2 to be married today, and then ask each of our parents if they support us in our decision to get married and welcome the other one into their family. It was really sweet and made them a part of the day. I think you could easily do something like that by having the parents stand up after you walk in.

I can see why that would make them sad. I’m newly married and I think myself and hubby would be sad with our daughters vision of the traditional way but the thing is it’s our daughters wedding and want her to have the vision she always wanted. They will get over it. I would suggest involving them in wedding cake stuff, flowers, decorations, and other special stuff.

I'm bookmarking this thread. My dad passed away when I was in college, so we are working around a lot of those traditions (I've started to step out of weddings that when the father-daughter dance happens because it makes me so sad and I usually ugly cry).

I think I'll be walking down the aisle solo, but I've considered having my mom, MOH, or dog do it.
For the parent-child dances, I want to do a single parent/child dance where I dance with my mom, my FH dances with his mom, and his sister dances with his dad (she's nearly 40 and not in a serious relationship and his dad's health isn't horrible but isn't the best either). We've discussed not doing a dance at all, but I think my FMIL would probably want to do one.
I love the idea of "taking in" the spouse.

Other ways to include parents could be doing a "first look" with them like someone else suggested.

What if your parents walk in first with the officiant and they hug your FH when he gets to the alter?

I'm not sure how to make your idea work, but it sounds fun! i hope it works out for you

I walked myself aha. I just liked the idea of going on my own because I saw it as my own journey to my husband

View Quoted Comment Love that idea!

View Quoted Comment That’s the same way I feel. I’m doing the same as you.