A dad made his daughter’s wedding day even more special when he invited her stepdad to join them in walking down the aisle.
Photographer Kelsey Griffith shared a video of the touching moment on Instagram and TikTok, where it has gone viral and garnered millions of views since she posted it on October 1.
The footage started out like a typical wedding video. Looking radiant in her exquisite white gown, Kelsey smiled as she slowly walked down the aisle with her biological father. The guests were standing and smiling as they watched the pair, honoring the special moment.
But when they were about halfway down the path, Kelsey’s dad stopped and reached out for her stepfather, who was watching from the crowd.
The man thought he was just getting a handshake, but Kelsey’s dad pulled him toward the aisle and invited him to join them the rest of the way. The bride then locks arms with his two fathers and resumes their march to the altar.
“My dad surprised my stepdad by including him in our walk down the aisle,” Kelsey captioned the video.
The video, which also made its way to Reddit, is moving the internet to tears, with many users weighing in on the emotional moment.
One Redditor said: “Life is just so much easier without the drama. I don’t know why people choose to have constant conflict in their lives and messy co-parenting relationships.”
“It takes a lot to step in as a father figure, and just as much for the biological father to respect his kids being raised by another person,” observed another.
Other people were compelled to share similar moving stories of dads and stepdads doing something sweet for their daughters and stepdaughters on their wedding day.
“My dad gave up half of his father/daughter dance to my stepdad, I had no idea his plan until he did it. I was blessed with two amazing dads!” someone posted.
“When my daughter married, her stepdad had a picture of her late dad in his pocket and when they did the father/daughter dance, he showed her he was with them all day,” another shared.
On Instagram, Kelsey mentioned that her stepdad had helped raise her since she was nine years old. She and her father kept the plan secret until the ceremony, so nobody knew about it until the moment happened.
This story is reminiscent of one that went viral in 2015. A father-of-the-bride named Todd Bachmann was walking his daughter down the aisle when he grabbed his daughter’s stepdad, Todd Cendrosky, so he could join them. The latter immediately broke into tears upon realizing what was happening.
“[Brittany’s biological father] came and grabbed my hand, and said: ‘You worked as hard as I have. You’ll help us walk our daughter down the aisle.’ I got weak in the knees and lost it. Nothing better in my life, the most impactful moment in my life,” Cendrosky said, according to USA Today.
Bachmann then shared a photo of him taking Cendrosky by the hand, and it went viral on Facebook.
“It hasn’t always been peaches and cream, by any stretch of the imagination,” Bachmann said. “There’s no better way to thank somebody than to assist me walking my — walking OUR daughter — down the aisle.”
These dads have proven that selflessness is one of the most important qualities a person must have to be a good parent. These men put their daughter’s needs before their own, which is the true mark of being a great father.
Prepare some tissues and see the precious moment unfold in the video below.
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