Weddings are not just about two people coming together in marriage. While that is certainly the main event, weddings are also about two families uniting as one. As a top Orlando wedding venue with a team of tenured Event Managers, we know that many couples want to honor their families at their wedding, but often struggle with how to do so. Over the years, our team has advised countless couples on time-honored ways to pay tribute to family members, and in this post, we’re passing these ideas along to you!
At Celebration Gardens, we’re not just your Orlando wedding venue. We strive to be your wedding planning partners through our all-inclusive wedding packages and highly personalized guest service throughout the process. We’re happy to be your go-to wedding guru for matters concerning the venue, catering menu, and wedding timeline, to name a few. With the expertise of both the Celebration Gardens team and our in-house caterer, John Michael Events, we make wedding planning easy and stress-free!
So let’s check one more wedding planning task off your to-do list by diving into these ways to honor your family at your Orlando wedding!
Wedding First Looks
You may have heard of doing a first look with your soon-to-be spouse, where you see each other for the first time on your wedding day in private. However, this is your reminder that you can put your own twist on wedding traditions like these! At your Orlando wedding, you may consider holding a first look with your parents, siblings, grandparents, or other close relatives.
Planning a private moment with these family members honors the relationship you have with them by including them in such a special moment on an otherwise fast-paced day. A first look is also a great time to give these family members a meaningful gift, adding to the sentimentality of the moment.
We’ve seen couples do a first look with each of their parents individually followed by another first look with their grandparents and/or siblings. We’ve even witnessed a first look with the couple’s dog!
There truly is no limit to what you can do on your Orlando wedding day!
Sentimental Family Gifts
Gifts for any occasion are tricky, but especially for a milestone as special as your Orlando wedding! This occasion is the perfect opportunity to thank your parents or other close relatives for the role they’ve played in your life that has led to this day. With such significant meaning associated with this gift though, we find that many couples get overwhelmed when shopping. After all, what gift can symbolize so much?
As your local Orlando wedding experts, we’re here to help! Here’s a handy list of gift ideas for your family on your wedding day:
- Tie or handkerchief with a personalized, embroidered message
- Locket with a picture of you and your loved one
- Charm bracelet where the charms symbolize different times in your lives
- Custom artwork of a family photo or your childhood home
- Engraved cufflinks with a special message
- Photo album with family pictures over the years
- Bottle of their favorite wine with a custom label
- Custom carved wood sign with their last name
- Custom etched champagne glasses
Wedding Memorial Display
A memorial display at your wedding is a timeless way of paying homage to loved ones who have passed. You may choose to set up a memorial table at the reception that displays photos of these relatives alongside flower arrangements and candles. The botanical gardens at our Orlando wedding venue are the perfect place for this, providing a naturally beautiful backdrop for this special tribute.
Another way to honor these family members is to save them a seat at your ceremony. In the first row of ceremony chairs, you could place a photo frame and flowers on the reserved seat with a message like, “Here’s to our angel, who has the best seat in the house.” This is a sweet way of including them in this special time in your life, even if they can’t physically be there.
Family Unity Ceremony
Speaking of your Orlando wedding ceremony, let’s put a twist on the unity tradition! Typically, a unity ceremony involves you and your partner combining two elements, like two different colors of sand, into one to represent your union. To honor your family, you could turn this tradition into a family-oriented one by including your parents or kids! This family unity ceremony option is especially ideal if you have kids because it will engage them and truly make them feel included in your new family unit.
Each family member, including you and your partner, would take a different colored sand and simultaneously combine it all in one large vase. This symbolizes both of your families coming together by way of your marriage. Plus, it’s a keepsake you can treasure forever!
Meaningful Wedding Day Roles
Including your family in your Orlando wedding could also mean giving them a special role in the festivities! Whether you ask your brother to officiate the ceremony or invite your grandmas to be the “flower girls,” they’ll feel honored that you thought of them in this special way.
Other ways to include your family are asking them to serve as ushers or greeters, do a reading during the ceremony, give a toast, or deliver the welcome message or blessing at the reception.
For those extra special family members, you may even ask them to help walk you down the aisle! This unforgettable ceremony entrance would involve you being escorted down different portions of the aisle by a different family member. You could start with your grandparent walking you down the first part of the aisle, where they would then pass you to the next family member for the middle part of the aisle, and then your dad or other fatherly figure could walk you up to the altar itself. If you have children, you could even have them walk you down the aisle!
This works especially well if you have a longer walk down the aisle, like at our Gazebo Lawn! At our Orlando wedding venue, you start your processional underneath a canopy of natural greenery then make your way to the top of the paved pathway that leads through the lawn up to the main Gazebo. It’s a beautiful walk that could be made even more special with your family involved!
Personalized Thank You Letters
Honoring your family at your Orlando wedding is all about thanking them for everything they’ve done for you, so why not give them a tangible thank you letter? You could include this card as part of your wedding gift to them. If you want to take it one step further, you could handwrite or print personalized letters to each guest at your wedding and have them serve as escort or place cards!
As escort cards, you could set up a board that displays each card in alphabetical order with a message along the top reading, “Our Favorite People.” Before entering the reception, guests would find their name, pick up their letter that displays their table number, and then head to their seat.
Alternatively, you could have these thank you letters waiting for them at their reception table at an assigned place setting.
Either way, these are sure to be a hit!
Special Family Dances
Aside from the traditional father/daughter and mother/son dances, your Orlando wedding reception could also include other special family dances! Maybe you put a twist on the mother/son dance by dancing with your mom, your partner’s mom, and both grandmothers, and vice versa for your dads and grandfathers.
Have you heard of a generations or anniversary dance as well? This is a special group dance where the emcee invites all couples out onto the dance floor. Then, over the course of one meaningful song, couples are prompted to leave the floor based on the length of their relationship, so that by the end of the song, the couple who has been together longest is left dancing. At the end of the song, you could present the final couple with flowers as an homage to their special bond.
Oftentimes, this couple is your grandparents, which brings an added level of sentimentality and special meaning to this dance!
Let’s Plan Your Orlando Wedding!
Celebration Gardens is Orlando’s premier botanical garden wedding and event venue, located in Winter Park, FL. Our Wedding Gazebo, Intimate Pavilion, Grand Pavilion, and lush gardens provide a seamless flow from ceremony to cocktail hour to reception. We also offer all-inclusive wedding packages to make wedding planning as simple and stress-free as possible!
Are you interested in having your event at our beautiful outdoor venue? Contact us today! Our friendly team members would love to chat with you and provide you with a customized quote.