So, a little bit of background: my parents divorced when I was in college (it shot my grades to hell and I ended up flunking out, but that's another story for another time). My dad remarried a little while later, and while I get on with my stepmom just fine, I don't recognize her as my parent in anyway - I was an adult when she married my father, my mother's still alive, I don't "need" another mother. We're more like friends than anything else, which is not surprising because she's closer in age to me than she is to my dad.
My dad was an absent parent. He traveled a lot for work, and so I didn't get to see him very often as a kid. He just wasn't a big part of my childhood. He missed 6 of my birthdays in a row, but was always home (canceled trips etc) for my sister, which hurt, as you can imagine. As an adult, I've made the effort to become closer to him (and he's done the same), but we're still not exactly close.
Unrelated to our closeness issue, he's not contributing to the wedding.
My mom raised me pretty much single-handedly, got me through a lot of drama. She picked me up, dusted me off, and set me on the right path again whenever I strayed. She's visited me every day, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, every time I've been in hospital, despite the hospital being far from home and visiting hours clashing with work hours. I HATED my mom growing up, because she was always there - sometimes too much there. At 27, I realise all the sacrifices she made in her own life to make mine better. She's more than just my mom, she's my best friend. And she is contributing to the wedding - far more than I would ever have asked.
The thing is, now I've got to think about who's going to escort me down the aisle. I would rather just walk by myself, but I know some ladies on here have said that they felt they needed the support/felt like they were going to fall walking by themselves.
I hate hate HATE the idea that someone from my family is "giving" me to FI, like I'm an object. I spoke to my mom about it and she said "Why don't you look at it like we're approving/blessing the marriage?" I think that may be even worse. Maybe I'm just being difficult.
Then she suggested that both she and my dad walk with me, just as an escort, nothing more. I'm honestly not thrilled about it, but I don't want to hurt or offend my parents.
So ladies, what would/did you do?