Wedding table names query

I sympathize with your situation, I lost my dad aged 10 and my stepdad aged 27, so i think it is great to want to honour your lost loved ones, personally I think naming the tables after them is a bit morbid. It is entirely up to you, but remember it is your wedding day and a joyous occasion so you don't want it be awkward and thing of how having the names on the tables could bring confronting or upsetting memories for your guests. You do t want them to feelnsad on your happy day.


We had a separate smaller table on our table plan and set up in the corner next the top table called Gone but Not Forgotten. We had white wood discs with the names written on them of all the people we have lost and a framed sign we got from Etsy for loving memory, pic of our table below. This allowed us to honour them but not make it to big a part of the day.
Could you also maybe choose songs they loved for your aisle or first dance songs? Also, your H2B could reference them in his speech and do a toast to absent family and friends, this a saying we always toast to in our family at any event, but is a lovely way to honour them without getting to maudlin.
I hope you can find a happy medium and something you are comfortable with.

I can understand why you would want to do this, but I wouldn't for the same reason that Charlotte gives. Even if all those who knew the people you want to honour would be ok with this, there is still the likelihood that some of your other guests have been recently bereaved and might be distressed by such an obvious, constant reminder.

I love Charlotte's suggestions. Other things you could use to include them might be including favourite flowers in the decor or favourite foods in the menu. You can also get little bouquet charms which you can have engraved with a photograph or handwriting - I got one made with my dad's photo and 'love' in his handwriting on it, so he still 'walked down the aisle' with me.

Regarding the table names, is there theme you could use where each name could be a tribute to a missing person without actually mentioning them? For example, plants they loved or that they had growing in their gardens (doesn't just have to be flowers, you could use trees as well), favourite holiday locations, places of birth, favourite musicians. That way, you would know that 'Sidmouth' was a tribute to granny's birthplace or 'Dahlia' reminds you of Uncle Fred's passion for growing them, but to everyone else, you've just named your tables after places or plants. It may not be possible to come up with a theme that works for all your absent loved ones, but if you use a bit of lateral thinking, you might be able to come up with something.