Divorced parents introductions

gennafoster

What is appropriate for the wedding introductions of divorced parents? My fiance's parents have been divorced since 2006 and his dad now lives with his girlfriend who he has been dating for 3 years but his mom is single. They aren't on the best terms so do we have them walk in separately with escorts? 

Also... is it appropriate for his dad's girlfriend to be his escort in the bridal party introductions? Who should we have walk in with his mother?

goheels05

"John Smith, father of the groom, accompanied by Susie Jones."  (yes, it's fine for him to walk in with his gf).

Is there a brother, uncle, or other relative who could walk in with MOG? 

Whatever you do, don't make a divorced couple walk in together. 

And then there's always the option of not doing WP  intros. 

FutureMrsTR

My dad is remarried and my mom is single and she was very uncomfortable with the idea of being introduced alone so we're not having parent introductions, just the bridal party and then us.

hlq2011

We're still working this out.  Both my parents remarried but my dad died in June, so my stepmom has no escort.  My mom and stepdad will walk in together and we're thinking of having my cousin, who'll be eleven, walk in with my stepmom.  We're most likely not doing child attendants (and he'd be too old for ringbearer anyway), but he's kind of like a brother to me so this gives him something to do with the wedding, and gives her an escort she's close to.

Is there another male relative she can walk in with, who she's close to?  Her brother, or father, or someone like that?

strlzfan11

My sister's in-laws had been divorced for over 20 years (dad was remarried and mom was single, but there was a LOT of animosity amongst them and the kids) when my sister and BIL got married 8 years ago.  Because of all the awkwardness of the situation they chose not to introduce the parents.

gennafoster

Yeah we were thinking of having her brother walk in with her since her brother is kind of like a big brother to my fiance. They are really close so we thought that would be good to have him involved in the wedding as well. 

So you think its appropriate for FOG to walk in with his long term girlfriend and MOG to walk in with her brother? 

strlzfan11

Have you asked them their opinions on the subject?

gennafoster

not yet. His mom will absolutely HATE the idea. She has never met his dad's girlfriend and refuses to meet her. His dad will think its a good idea. He is very easy going. I just think she will be upset because she doesn't have anyone. I'm not skipping the introductions because I'm the only girl in my family and this whole day is very special to my parents as they are paying for the wedding. 

Beachy730

DH's parents are divorced and both got remarried, and then both got divorced again.  Luckily they are on good terms with eachother.  DH made the decision for them that they would walk in together.  MIL is now dating someone else, but we didn't want her new boyfriend walking in for introductions.  DH made the decision that they would walk in together, and they were fine with it.  They also were fine to sit together at dinner so I know its a unique situation. 

I would ask them.  I'm with you that I wouldn't want to skip it altogether out of respect for my parents.  But I think its totally fine to do introduce "FOG John Smith walking with Jane Doe."  Then "MOG Mary Lou Who escorted by cousin of the bride Jimmy Dean."

goheels05

I don't see how skipping introductions will make it any less special, especially at the expense of making your FMIL uncomfortable. 

But to answer your question, it is perfectly acceptable to have FFIL walk in with his GF and FMIL to walk in with a male relative assuming all of them are comfortable with it.

irshis20

For the record, I've never been to a wedding where parents and the wedding party are introduced at the reception. The whole crowd is "introduced" to them during the wedding ceremony, when they all come down the aisle. Doing it a second time, just with a DJ or emcee announcing their names obnoxiously, does not make them anymore "introduced" to anyone in the crowd that hasn't met them previously.

vegasgroom

Hmm, I hadn't thought of this issue.  My parents are divorced, my mom was re-married but my step father died a few years ago; dad is remarried.  She has no other family that will be attending the wedding other than me and I wouldn't want her to feel uncomfortable. Can I walk my own mom down or is the groom supposed to already be at the alter?  Or should I have a groomsman walk her down?

Beachy730

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_divorced-parents-introductions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:82ad95fc-f433-487e-a083-d325e76dced7Post:05949874-3791-473d-bf3a-10353eb81c48">Re: Divorced <font color="#999999">parents</font> introductions</a>:
[QUOTE]Hmm, I hadn't thought of this issue.  My parents are divorced, my mom was re-married but my step father died a few years ago; dad is remarried.  She has no other family that will be attending the wedding other than me and I wouldn't want her to feel uncomfortable. Can I walk my own mom down or is the groom supposed to already be at the alter?  Or should I have a groomsman walk her down?
Posted by vegasgroom[/QUOTE]

Have a groomsman walk her down.  It would be nice if you did, but I've never seen a groom not be at the altar the whole time.  Do you have a GM that's a good friend that knows your mom well?  If you do go with him, if not just pick one that you would like to give the extra honor to. 

brookelynpaisley

we didn't introduce the parents - I've never been to a wedding where the parents were introduced.

Also, get a new SN. It's not a good idea to have your full name and/or your email address as your SN. You're new, so you're only losing 2 posts.

vegasgroom

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_divorced-parents-introductions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:82ad95fc-f433-487e-a083-d325e76dced7Post:fdb400dc-359a-4ee8-8cf9-03404b09564b">Re: Divorced parents introductions</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Divorced parents introductions : Have a groomsman walk her down.  It would be nice if you did, but I've never seen a groom not be at the altar the whole time.  Do you have a GM that's a good friend that knows your mom well?  If you do go with him, if not just pick one that you would like to give the extra honor to. 
Posted by dnbeach12[/QUOTE]

Yeah, my best man and one of the groomsmen both know her; can one of them go back to get a bridesmaid or would that be weird and I should just have one of the bridesmaids come down alone?  There's even numbers of them.

Kristin789

>>is it appropriate for his dad's girlfriend to be his escort in the bridal party introductions?

Of course:
And now please welcome the groom's father, Mr. Mark Smith, with Ms. Candy Apple!!

/>>Who should we have walk in with his mother?

Whoever she chooses.  Like maybe her father or her brother or her guy friend she's bringing or a cousin.
And here's the groom's mother, Mrs. Nancy Jones, escorted by the groom's grandfather Mr. Horace Doe.

Beachy730

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_divorced-parents-introductions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:82ad95fc-f433-487e-a083-d325e76dced7Post:a163a1e6-2139-42c2-9955-1a36c0d384f6">Re: Divorced parents introductions</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Divorced parents introductions : Yeah, my best man and one of the groomsmen both know her; can one of them go back to get a bridesmaid or would that be weird and I should just have one of the bridesmaids come down alone?  There's even numbers of them.
Posted by vegasgroom[/QUOTE]

I don't know how your ceremony will be set up, but ours was in a church, and the best man stood up at the altar the whole time with my H.  H's parents are divorced, so he had one of his brothers, who were both groomsmen, walk his mom down (he picked the older of the 2 brothers).  From there he was just going to turn around and walk back to the rest of the GM.  Our church has aisles down the side as well so he was going to go down the side.  What we ended up doing though, which is another option if you are having an aisle runner, is that after H's brother walked him mom in he stood next to her for a minute while my brother walked my mom in.  Once both moms were seated the 2 brothers grabbed the aisle runner and walked it down the aisle for the BM's to walk on.  After that, my brother returned to his seat, and BIL was with the rest of the GM's again.  Sorry if thats confusing.