John Edwards will walk daughter down the aisle

The daughter of former presidential candidate and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards will walk down the aisle this weekend.

Cate Edwards will marry her fiance, Trevor Upham in a North Carolina church.

The occasion will, however, be marked with a certain degree of sadness, as she'll celebrate the big day without one of her best friends and closest confidantes, her mother, Elizabeth Edwards.

Cate, 29, will say "I do" less than a year after losing her mom to breast cancer.

Her engagement to her long-time boyfriend came over Thanksgiving weekend last year, two weeks before Elizabeth succumbed after a long battle against breast cancer.

In her eulogy, Cate Edwards talked of the bond mother and daughter shared, saying at the time, "Emma, Jack and I ended every conversation with our mom by saying, 'I love you more.' And she always responded by saying, 'No, I love you more.' And as you can imagine, none of us ever won that battle."

Before her passing, Elizabeth Edwards helped her daughter plan for her wedding and often spoke about preparing her family for life without her.

Elizabeth Edwards said of parenting, "The most important thing you can give your children is wings, because you're not going to always be able to bring food to the nest; sometimes they're going to have to be able to fly by themselves."

The wedding is shaping up to be a shining moment for a family mired in controversy. Cate's father suffered a swift fall from grace shortly after his failed 2008 run for president. While his wife fought cancer, he engaged in an extra-marital affair with Rielle Hunter, a former campaign staffer, and the two had a child.

The scandal shattered his political future, and he's now charged with violating campaign finance laws. John Edwards faces up to 30 years in prison. His trial is scheduled for January.

But, plans call for him to walk his daughter down the aisle.