Honoring Absent Loved Ones: The Empty Seat at Weddings

Losing someone you love dearly never gets any easier. My mom became a cherub nine years ago to this day. It is as painful as it was then, but time has helped heal the wounds, though the scars remain. The pain has shifted into a different emotion and has given me the strength to face new challenges, knowing she is looking over me.

This is not a sad post, on the contrary, we are celebrating that such a beautiful being touched my heart so profoundly and gifted me with her resilience and creativity, her strive for independence, and her huge heart. I hope I am at least half of the remarkable person she was! She is the soul of my work and the inspiration behind it, so I take this space to thank my beautiful mother immensely for the timeless inspiration, from the impeccable haute couture paper dresses to my astonishing wedding gown, and beyond. What a genius she was!

A few weeks ago, I was speaking with a friend who happens to be a wedding planner on how to incorporate someone who has recently left us into a celebration of love. We had a very long conversation based on our own experience and concluded that their soul will always be with us, regardless of how one integrates them into that precise occasion.

You can honor them and their place in your celebration by creating a gesture. My choice: leaving one seat Reserved and putting a beautiful handwritten Thank You card inside an invitation envelope, with a fun anecdote, something you treasure about them that makes you smile. There is no need for further explanation. You all know. It is a cheerier way to honor them as a part of your life and your special day. Treasure the card with your wedding pictures and guest cards so whenever you look at them, you will read the card, smile, and feel they were with you on your special day and still are.

Photo: iStock

Sorry if this was not a joyful post, but I am an “organic soul” and write based on my experiences. Today is a reflective kind of day, not a sad one, to celebrate a beautiful soul, the most important woman in my life next to my daughter, and to thank her again and again for always being an inspiration and an extraordinary human being.

Thank you, Mum!

#timelessimpress