Visit Martha Stewart Weddings Weddings Wedding Planning & Advice Wedding Etiquette & Advice 16 Loving Ways to Include Your Mother at the Wedding By Martha Stewart Editors Martha Stewart Editors Facebook Instagram Twitter Website An article attributed to "Martha Stewart Editors" indicates when several writers and editors have contributed to an article over the years. These collaborations allow us to provide you with the most accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information available.The Martha Stewart team aims to teach and inspire readers daily with tested-until-perfected recipes, creative DIY projects, and elevated home and entertaining ideas. They are experts in their fields who research, create, and test the best ways to help readers design the life they want. The joy is in the doing. Editorial Guidelines Updated on September 20, 2018 Share Tweet Pin Email Trending Videos Sure, it's your day, but honoring generations of women, from your mother to your mother-in-law and grandmothers, at your wedding will add that extra-special touch. Here, inspiration from our brides on how to embrace them within your festivities. 01 of 16 Acknowledge Traditions Important to Her Leo Patrone Photography Ally and her groom, Adam, incorporated their family heritage into their celebration. During a Vietnamese tea ceremony, it is traditional for the mother-in-law to gift her future daughter-in-law something special. Adam's mother gave Ally a keepsake necklace at theirs, which was held six months before the wedding. See More Details From Ally and Adam’s Wedding 02 of 16 Work As a Team Belathée Photography Together, Jolene and her mom bonded before the wedding as they assembled tiny sachets of lavender (one of the bride's favorite scents) for guests to toss as the newlyweds walked back up the aisle. See More Details From Jolene and Brad’s Wedding 03 of 16 Celebrate Her Hidden Talents Jen Fariello Photography This bride invited her mom to knit nine handbags from a Jane Austen pattern, one for each bridesmaid at this vintage DIY wedding on a Virginia farm. The mother then personalized the pouches by cross-stitching tags with her daughter's new initials and wedding date inside. See More Details From Meg and Landon’s Wedding 04 of 16 Get Inspired by Her Style KT Merry "When it comes to fashion, I look up to my mom," Annie says. Her mother wore a traditional hanbok to her daughter's nuptials and found Annie's jeweled headpiece in a South Korea boutique. The mother-daughter duo later designed the bride's beaded ivory dress for the reception. See More Details From Annie and Tad’s Wedding 05 of 16 Curate a Photo Display Millie Holloman Photography Abigail and Michael's nuptials in Wilmington, North Carolina, were all about family. Using Polaroids and tags, the two hung old photographs of relatives to create a real-life ancestral tree, remembering those who came before them, including mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers. See More Creative Ways to Display Photos at Your Wedding 06 of 16 Take a First Look Photo With Her Elizabeth Messina Photography Bride JoJo and her mother, Rita Cohen, stole an embrace on the big day, acknowledging the power of sneaking in a hug amid a celebration bustling with activity. See More Details From JoJo and Eric’s Wedding 07 of 16 Never Forget Her Harwell Photography Fate played a hand in this couple's romance. The duo's mothers were best friends in high school, but the groom's mother, Mimi, passed away before Lizzy got to meet her. However, this bride believes "It was all fate…Mimi brought us together." The pair held their first look at the cemetery where Mimi was laid to rest. "I could feel the warmth of Mimi's presence and knew she was dancing in heaven when we were all there together," the bride says of one of her favorite parts of the day. Lizzy also donned her grandmother's aquamarine necklace as her "something blue." See More Details From Lizzy and Bucky’s Wedding 08 of 16 Don an Heirloom Rylee Hitchner This bride's gown was a given. Carrie, an interior designer and stylist, came across the silk Jane Wilson-Marquis dress that her mom, Roseanne Cash, wore at her wedding to Carrie's stepfather in 1995. "I said right then I would wear it one day," she recalls, upholding her love for "the tradition of generations of women in the same wedding gown." See More Details From Carrie and Dan’s Wedding 09 of 16 Carry Her With You Abby Jiu Photography Bride Sally adorned her bouquet of jasmine vines, silvery dusty miller, white lisianthus, tulips, freesia, roses, and dahlias with her great-grandmother's brooch to remember her as she walked down the aisle. See More Details From Sally and Mark’s Wedding 10 of 16 Hold Her Close Jen Fariello Photography Dickie Morris of Just a Little Ditty incorporated fabric from the groom's late mother's clothing into a clutch for the bride, keeping the mom's memory in hand as the duo created new memories. 11 of 16 Keep the Gang Together Elizabeth Messina Photography This bride included her entire family for her aisle walk: She began on her father's arm, met her mother halfway for a kiss, then joined her future stepchildren for the final steps to the altar. 12 of 16 Leave Her a Sweet Note Belathée Photography To keep tears at bay, Jolene gave her mom a handkerchief embroidered by EmbroiderybyLinda, complete with a special message from daughter to mother. 13 of 16 Send Them a Message Gertrude & Mabel Photography At this destination wedding, the bride and groom sent photographed notes to their grandmothers who were unable to attend the festivities to include them in a one-of-a-kind way. See More Details From Jennifer and James’s Wedding 14 of 16 Share Her Beloved Recipes Landon Jacob Irby's grandmother, known as Happy, is famous for her chocolate chip cookies and makes them for everyone. When the bride was thinking of what the wedding favor would be, she could think of no better token of thanks than some of the noteworthy cookies. Grandma was happy to bake the sweets, which were packaged in custom baggies. See More Details From Irby and Adam’s Wedding 15 of 16 Let Love Bloom Susan Jackson At Zooey and David's green-and-white wedding in Missouri, centerpieces of potted dusty miller added a verdant note to tables. The husband-and-wife team later planted the flowers in the mother-of-the-bride's garden as a thank you for all of her love and support. See More Details From Zooey and David’s Wedding 16 of 16 Say Thank You Annie Meyers-Shyer's parents may have co-written the Father of the Bride remake, but for their daughter's wedding, her mom, then an official mother of the bride, took the reigns as sole director. Annie thanked her for the cinema-worthy day with an accordion card of family photos as a token of gratitude. See More Details From Annie and Robby’s Wedding Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit