Hey,
Sorry in advance for a sad post! I am getting married in September, and starting to think about my bride speech.
A bit of background - my dad passed away 4 years ago from a heart attach, 6 months before I met my fiance. 18 months later, my stepdad (since I was 3) was diagnosed with terminal cancer and passed away a few months later (2015 & 2016 were pretty crappy years, apart from the fact I met my fiance then!). My fiance supported me through that amazingly!
I should also maybe add that the anniversary of my stepdad passing is the day after our wedding (the 15th, we get married on the 14th). I checked this was ok with my mum before we booked, she is looking forward to having something happy to enjoy around that date.
On our wedding, my brother will be playing dad's guitar for my entrance, but I'm walking down the aisle on my own and giving myself away. I'm wearing a necklace with dad's ashes, and I'm getting a charm with his picture to go on my bouquet. We're also having a memory ladder for both him and my stepdad.
My mum and stepmum get on amazingly well, and will both be on top table.
I am giving a speech, and want to mention both my dad and stepdad in it, and raise a toast to them. But I don't want it to be too morbid and go on for ages about my dad, do a toast for him, then do it all again for my stepdad. But I also don't want to do the whole 'I'm sure X is with us today', as I want it to be meaningful. I also want to get across the fact that I'm gutted my fiance never got to meet my dad, but again without being too morbid. Just really struggling with how to set the tone. Also, at which point should I mention them - do I do it first to get it out of the way, will it get lost in the middle, or should I do it at the end before I hand over to my fiance to do his speech?
If anyone has done this themselves, or has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it!
Thanks! X