Including Family in Your Wedding

With the Thanksgiving holiday coming up quickly, we’re looking forward to gathering with our friends and family to share great food, better company, and grateful hearts. For engaged couples, the holiday season can be an ideal time to share wedding ideas with family. Maybe you want to ask your niece to be your flower girl, or let your grandmother voice an opinion on ceremony song selection. However, it can be a challenge to make everyone feel appreciated, especially if you have a large family.

If you want to include these loved ones in your special day but aren’t sure how to accommodate everyone, we’ve got you covered. Take a look at a few of our favorite ideas for involving family at your barn wedding venues:

• Ushers: ushering is a lovely formal touch to your ceremony. Let your cousins, nephews, uncles, or other special family members greet guests and escort them to their seats.

• Readers: select a few family members as ceremony readers of scripture, poems, or prose. This can be an ideal job for siblings, close friends, or aunts/uncles. Be sure to give readers their scripts in advance so they can practice!

• House party: a Southern tradition, house parties are common here in Texas. A house party is almost like an extension of your wedding party—making it a special acknowledgement of friends or family that you would like to include in the ceremony. House party members may assist with welcoming guests, handing out programs, manning the guest book, or keeping elderly guests company. House party members typically participate in some photos, but do not coordinate attire with bridesmaids. If you decide to have a house party, be sure to offer heartfelt thanks! Their assistance goes a long way in helping your ceremony run smoothly.

• Memorial roses: we love the idea of honoring family members who are no longer with us. This can also be an ideal opportunity to involve additional family members in the ceremony. Place a long-stemmed rose for each deceased family member in a vase near our barn doors with a few words of remembrance. During the procession, allow a few designated family members to carry the roses up the aisle in honor of your loved ones.

How did you include extended family in your big day? We’d love to hear your ideas. If you’re dreaming of a beautiful ceremony, we hope you’ll get in touch. Barn wedding venues are the perfect mix of elegance and charm for any wedding vision.