By Daniella GrayShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA bride’s tribute to her late father has broken hearts across the internet after she found a way to walk down the aisle with him—even three years after his sudden death.
Lizzie Dean (@lizzieallyn) shared footage from her wedding day in a clip on TikTok. The California bride walks down the aisle in heels wrapped in one of her father Ron’s favorite shirts.
As she walked, a voicemail he once left for her and her now-husband, Matthew Valvardi, played over the speakers.
...“I knew I wanted him to be a big part of the day, and that I didn't want to shy away from his presence,” Dean told Newsweek. “I knew it would make it more difficult emotionally but couldn't imagine not incorporating him as much as I could.”
Her father’s absence was as unexpected as it was devastating. Though he had struggled with heart issues in the years leading up to his death, he had been committed to improving his health, taking what Dean called his “hot girl walks” around Washington, D.C.
His numbers were improving and his doctors were encouraged. But then—a heart attack no one saw coming.
As a “girl dad through and through,” Dean said Ron loved being an unofficial sorority member for his daughters, telling long stories from his childhood in California, Beirut and Connecticut.
Dean, who sings and writes music, used to perform her own re-written version of Avery Lynch’s “All I Need” as a kind of musical love letter to her father.
Valvardi knew this, and arranged for Lynch to appear at the wedding. She performed three songs, including “All I Need,” which became a collective moment of remembrance.
“We all danced and cried and held each other—it was so special,” Dean said. “My husband also gave a speech before the song talking about my dad and [our] relationship, and encouraged everyone to remember his memory.”
The couple also created a custom toile pattern used on invitations, scarves and décor, weaving in symbols that represented her dad. One of the signature cocktails was named “The Ron.”
The day-after celebration—held on what would have been her parents’ 39th wedding anniversary—featured Dean wearing her mother’s wedding dress.
Dean's clip has gone viral on TikTok, amassing over 4 million views. In the comments, users were moved by tears by her gesture.
“Crying. This is so special,” one user wrote.
“What a gift to have this message from him forever,” another said in reference to the voicemail.
A third user wrote, “As someone who lost their dad a month after I got engaged, I feel those emotions so hard.”
Walking down the aisle with her father’s voice in her ears and his shirt at her feet was both painful and comforting—“very, very special,” Dean said. “It was definitely difficult and emotional, but I was so overjoyed that I got the opportunity to honor him and let others hear his voice and be reminded of his presence and his heart.”
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