By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:58 EST, 7 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:16 EST, 7 August 2012 . A reverend whose daughter and two granddaughters were brutally killed in a house invasion in Connecticut has given his blessing to his son-in-law's new marriage. In a moving show of support, Rev. Richard Hawke said his daughter would want William Petit - the lone survivor in the attack in 2007 - to have someone like new love Christine Paluf in his life. He added that he hopes the couple, who met while working for a foundation set up in the family's memory, go on to have children. New-found happiness: Dr William Petit, the lone survivor of a brutal home invasion in Connecticut, has married photographer Christine Paluf. His wife and two daughters died in the attack in 2007 . Rev. Hawke wrote a blessing that was read at the wedding in West Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday. 'My theme for the prayer was this is the day for new beginnings,' he told the New York Daily News. 'After having come through the home . invasion and the death of his entire family ... this marriage was a time . for new beginnings.' Rev. Hawke, who said he has known Paluf for a year, went on: 'My . wife and I hope that they have children, and that they would love those . children just as much as [Petit] loved his other children.' The wedding between Dr. Petit, 55, and photographer Paluf, 34, was witnessed by 300 friends and family on Sunday. They began dating last year after working together at the Petit Family Foundation and became engaged in December. Murdered: Dr Petit with his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters, Hayley (left) and Michaela . Blessing: Rev. Richard Hawke (left), the father of Petit's murdered wife, has given his support to the marriage. Hawke and Petit are pictured with his sister Johanna Chapman outside court last year . Dr Petit, a diabetes specialist, gave . up practicing medicine after the death of his wife and children and . decided to devote his life to fighting . for justice for them through the foundation. In 2008, he met Paluf at a local . country club, where she worked as a marketing director, and she offered . her professional photography services to the charity. 'It was fun,' Hayley Hovhanessian from the Petit Foundation told ABC News after the wedding, adding that the couple had planned on a honeymoon but she is 'not sure where'. Marybelle Hawke, the mother of Dr Petit's deceased wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit, said her family welcomed the engagement and encouraged Petit to find peace and joy in his life. Hawke-Petit's sister was among the . wedding guests. After his engagement in December, his sister-in-law Cindy . Hawke-Renn said: 'This is something we'd hoped and prayed . for, that Billy would one day find love again. He's happier and more joyful, . lighter.' The happy day comes five . years since the horrific killings of Dr. Petit's family at the hands of . two house invaders, Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes. New love: Paetit met Paluf while she volunteered at the Foundation he set up in his family's memory . Together: The couple were joined by 300 friends and relatives at the wedding in West Hartford on Sunday . Support: The family of Petit's deceased wife have wished him and Paluf the world of happiness . They are on death row for the . murders of Mrs Hawke-Petit, 48, and the couple's daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old . Michaela. Mrs Hawke-Petit was raped and strangled while her children were tied to their beds and left to die when the house was set on fire. Dr Petit was beaten with a baseball bat and tied up in the basement, but managed to escape by crawling to a neighbour's house. Paluf attended the trials for the killers of Petit's family. Both Komisarjevsky and Hayes were convicted and are currently on Connecticut's death row, waiting to be put to death by lethal injection. 'There is never complete closure when . you lose your wife and family, but the first part is over and we think . justice has been served,' Petit said last December. He also spoke of his devastation and how he had contemplated suicide after he was left with a 'jagged hole in my heart'. 'I miss my entire family, my home, . everything we had together,' he said. 'They were three special people. I . lost my entire family. I lost the records of our shared lives together . due to the fire.' Killers: Joshua Komisarjevsky, left, and Steven Hayes, right, were convicted of raping Mrs Hawke-Petit and murdering her and her two daughters. They have both been sentenced to death . Devastation: The tied down all their victims before setting the home alight. Pictured, Michaela's bedroom . In March . 2011, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a new law that ends the . state's death penalty for future crimes, but it does not apply to those . already on death row. Many had insisted that the death penalty remain for previous cases so that Komisarjevsky and Hayes would not be spared. Earlier this year it emerged that Steven Hayes came up with a bizarre plan to end his own life by lying in a series of letters that he had killed 17 other victims and raped dozens of women. However, he later claimed in an interview that he had 'made it all up' and that he had hoped the letters would lead prison authorities to notify police and he could trade information for food. He planned to use the ploy to eat oysters in his cell to which he is deathly allergic.
Dr William Petit married Christine Paluf on Sunday in West Hartford .
Father of Petit's murdered wife wrote blessing for the wedding .
Said his daughter would want Petit to have someone like Paluf in his life .
Couple met after Paluf volunteered for family's foundation .
Comes five years after his wife and two daughters, aged 11 and 17, were murdered in their home; Petit managed to escape .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 08:58 EST, 7 August 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 09:16 EST, 7 August 2012 . A reverend whose daughter and two granddaughters were brutally killed in a house invasion in Connecticut has given his blessing to his son-in-law's new marriage. In a moving show of support, Rev. Richard Hawke said his daughter would want William Petit - the lone survivor in the attack in 2007 - to have someone like new love Christine Paluf in his life. He added that he hopes the couple, who met while working for a foundation set up in the family's memory, go on to have children. New-found happiness: Dr William Petit, the lone survivor of a brutal home invasion in Connecticut, has married photographer Christine Paluf. His wife and two daughters died in the attack in 2007 . Rev. Hawke wrote a blessing that was read at the wedding in West Hartford, Connecticut on Sunday. 'My theme for the prayer was this is the day for new beginnings,' he told the New York Daily News. 'After having come through the home . invasion and the death of his entire family ... this marriage was a time . for new beginnings.' Rev. Hawke, who said he has known Paluf for a year, went on: 'My . wife and I hope that they have children, and that they would love those . children just as much as [Petit] loved his other children.' The wedding between Dr. Petit, 55, and photographer Paluf, 34, was witnessed by 300 friends and family on Sunday. They began dating last year after working together at the Petit Family Foundation and became engaged in December. Murdered: Dr Petit with his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit and their daughters, Hayley (left) and Michaela . Blessing: Rev. Richard Hawke (left), the father of Petit's murdered wife, has given his support to the marriage. Hawke and Petit are pictured with his sister Johanna Chapman outside court last year . Dr Petit, a diabetes specialist, gave . up practicing medicine after the death of his wife and children and . decided to devote his life to fighting . for justice for them through the foundation. In 2008, he met Paluf at a local . country club, where she worked as a marketing director, and she offered . her professional photography services to the charity. 'It was fun,' Hayley Hovhanessian from the Petit Foundation told ABC News after the wedding, adding that the couple had planned on a honeymoon but she is 'not sure where'. Marybelle Hawke, the mother of Dr Petit's deceased wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit, said her family welcomed the engagement and encouraged Petit to find peace and joy in his life. Hawke-Petit's sister was among the . wedding guests. After his engagement in December, his sister-in-law Cindy . Hawke-Renn said: 'This is something we'd hoped and prayed . for, that Billy would one day find love again. He's happier and more joyful, . lighter.' The happy day comes five . years since the horrific killings of Dr. Petit's family at the hands of . two house invaders, Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes. New love: Paetit met Paluf while she volunteered at the Foundation he set up in his family's memory . Together: The couple were joined by 300 friends and relatives at the wedding in West Hartford on Sunday . Support: The family of Petit's deceased wife have wished him and Paluf the world of happiness . They are on death row for the . murders of Mrs Hawke-Petit, 48, and the couple's daughters, 17-year-old Hayley and 11-year-old . Michaela. Mrs Hawke-Petit was raped and strangled while her children were tied to their beds and left to die when the house was set on fire. Dr Petit was beaten with a baseball bat and tied up in the basement, but managed to escape by crawling to a neighbour's house. Paluf attended the trials for the killers of Petit's family. Both Komisarjevsky and Hayes were convicted and are currently on Connecticut's death row, waiting to be put to death by lethal injection. 'There is never complete closure when . you lose your wife and family, but the first part is over and we think . justice has been served,' Petit said last December. He also spoke of his devastation and how he had contemplated suicide after he was left with a 'jagged hole in my heart'. 'I miss my entire family, my home, . everything we had together,' he said. 'They were three special people. I . lost my entire family. I lost the records of our shared lives together . due to the fire.' Killers: Joshua Komisarjevsky, left, and Steven Hayes, right, were convicted of raping Mrs Hawke-Petit and murdering her and her two daughters. They have both been sentenced to death . Devastation: The tied down all their victims before setting the home alight. Pictured, Michaela's bedroom . In March . 2011, Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed a new law that ends the . state's death penalty for future crimes, but it does not apply to those . already on death row. Many had insisted that the death penalty remain for previous cases so that Komisarjevsky and Hayes would not be spared. Earlier this year it emerged that Steven Hayes came up with a bizarre plan to end his own life by lying in a series of letters that he had killed 17 other victims and raped dozens of women. However, he later claimed in an interview that he had 'made it all up' and that he had hoped the letters would lead prison authorities to notify police and he could trade information for food. He planned to use the ploy to eat oysters in his cell to which he is deathly allergic.
would want William Petit - the lone survivor in the attack in 2007 - to have someone like new love Christine Paluf in his life. He added that Christine Paluf. His wife and two daughters died (left), the father of Petit's murdered wife, has wedding in West Hartford on Sunday . Support: The basement, but managed to escape by crawling to a