WikiAnswers condolences to you and your family. As you know if the father has passed away an uncle; a good elderly friend or even a brother can walk down the aisle with the bride and he can give away the bride to the groom. Some brides who have recently lost their father will ask the Photography (or a friend with camera) to go to the grave site of their father (before going to the reception hall) and the bride will pick out one flower from her bouquet and place it on the grave site; the person taking the pictures of the bride doing so are personal memories to her. It would be at the wedding reception that it is acceptable for the bride to rise as the first toast and make a 'short' speech about her father not being at her wedding and then say 'please rise and raise your glasses for a toast to (put your father's name here.' The reason the speech should be short is the wedding is suppose to be joyous event (which the father would want to see) and not a sad event; yet honoring the father and including him in the wedding. Instead of throwing the bouquet (have the florist make up an array of flowers in cellophane with a ribbon on it, the bride can leave her wedding bouquet (after all pictures have been taken) at the grave site of her father and the other array of flowers in cellophane can be thrown to the single women at the reception.
