Who's going to walk me down the aisle?

brookerich

I'm trying to figure out what to do about the "giving away" part of the wedding.  I have no father that I know, no brother or uncles that I've saw in at least 10 years.  I'm not opposed to walking down the aisle alone at all but I think it would feel nice for me to have someone?!  None of my family members will be in attendance at the wedding at all (in fact very few will know about it) we aren't close in any way.

Would it be a wedding fauxpas to ask my FI's dad to walk me down the aisle?  I really do consider him the only father I have.  My FI is asking his step father to be one of his groomsmen so I don't think any toes would be stepped on by doing this.

My other option would be for my FI himself to meet me at the beginning of the aisle and walk me down himself.  I'm not opposed to this either.  I'm just totally unsure what to do here. 

Maggie0829

It does not necessarily have to be a relative.  Are you having a wedding party?  Maybe your MOH could walk you down the aisle.  Or if no wedding party, do you have a very close friend (male or female) that will be in attendance that could walk you down.

No matter who you choose, make sure that it is a person that means a lot to you...if that person happens to be your FFIL, then I think that would be a very sweet thing for him to do.

Do not worry about any faux pas here, you can have anyone walk you down the aisle.

em01092

This is a very personal choice. Ask whoever you want, male or female, relative or friend. Also know that you can walk by yourself, if you don't feel right asking someone, or if perhaps your FFIL is not comfortable with the idea. 

pattib5

Personally I love the idea of walking most of the way down the aisle, have your FI meet you a third of the way, and then finish walking up to the altar together. I find the whole "giving the bride away" tradition a bit outdated.

That said, if you love the idea of your FI's father walking you, I think that's very sweet!

dubird

I don't think of it as 'giving the bride away' unless the officiant actually asks that question.  My dad is simply escorting me down the aisle as a symbol of saying goodbye to his little girl.  Even if his little girl is the older girl and the last of the siblings to be married.  ><

If you are really close to your FFIL, go ahead and ask him.  If he feels that close to you, chances are he'll be honored and touched that you asked.  Espically if he has no daughters of his own (didn't mention if he did, just a thought).  If you don't feel that close, there's nothing wrong with walking down the asle by yourself or with someone else.

firsttimersluck

I think it would be super sweet to have your FFIL walk you down the aisle  

I didn't want my father to walk me, so I walked alone and am happy in that decision because I wanted to give myself to my husband.

But to have your FI meet you and walk with you would be lovely, as would FFIL (and I bet he would love the honor). 

It sounds like you can't really make a wrong choice here.. Try not to stress it  

HeathenSwan

I've been toying with the idea of either my Mom walking me down, or walking down by myself. I walked my friend down the aisle (I was her MOH) because her family wasn't in attendance. And I had another friend who had her male best friend do it.

If yo'd really like your FFIL to do it, I think that would be fine. I would omit the part pertaining to giving the bride to be married. If you want something like that, you can word it so the officiant asks who presents the bride to be married.

TiffannieF

You can just have the officiant skip the "who gives this bride away". I think it would be fine to have your FFIL walk you down although you still have the option if walking alone, with FI, or mom, sister, etc.

brookerich

I'll try to answer everyone's questions here all at once lol.

I don't have any relatives period who will be in attendance or who will even really know about the wedding at all.  I have family that is alive, none of which really want to have anything to do with me (and trust me the feeling is mututal lol) I will have one bridesmaid, my future daughter in law in the wedding party.

I've been thinking a lot about this since I posted this and I'm going to talk to the FI about it tomorrow (he works at night so it will have to wait till then).  This is the second marriage for both of us, so I'm not really worried about the "giving away" part, in fact the officiant is just going to skip that part all together. lol  I was more thinking about having someone escort me.

We are having an Irish ceremony where my FI's family's tartan will be "pinned" on me at the end of the ceremony by his father and mother, even though they are divorced and have been remarried to other people for 30+ years.  Luckily everyone gets along so all is well there.

The reason my FI was thinking of asking his step father to stand up for him was because his father stood up for him at his first wedding and he is equally close to both of them.  This is why I thought it might be a nice gesture to ask my FFIL to escort me down the aisle.  I could also ask my future step son, but I think I'd feel bad not including my future step daughter in that as well.  WOW, decisions, decisions.

And yes, my FFIL has 4 daughters in total, counting me.  In that family you're family immediately.  I already call him, and my FI's step mother "dad" and "mom".  My FI has one "whole" brother, then one "step" sister and 2 "step" brothers who are married.

I'm still thinking about it and I will either have my FFIL escort me or I will have the FI walk me down himself.  Although if I do it that way he won't see me walking down the aisle toward him (is that cheesy?) even though we will literally be together the whole day of and he will have already saw me for hours and hours.

I'll just keep thinking, I'm not stressing over it. I just thought I'd get all your opinions!

rebarobert2012

Speak to your fiance about it and see what his feelings are on the subject.  If he likes the idea of his dad walking you down the aisle, I think it would be fine to go ahead and ask him.  I'm sure that his dad would love to do the honors since you said that you are close.