What I Didn’t Say To My Dad On My Wedding Day

On my wedding day, as my dad and I started our final walk before he would give me away, all I could come up with to say was, “Thank you for being such a good daddy.”You have to understand that my dad is not an emotional guy AT ALL. He is rough around the edges, mentally and physically strong, and I’ve never seen him cry. He’s not always easy to read, but there have been a few moments in my life that stick out to me when he showed his emotions loud and clear.The day I graduated college, I received a top award that I really didn’t expect. I remember him telling me that he said to my mom, “Hey, we made her!” I know it was covered in humor, but that told me just how very proud he was. Later that day, after we had gotten lunch and ice cream, we were walking around my college campus, standing near the beautiful center fountain when I heard him smile and say, “This is my favorite day.”It still brings me to tears every time I think about it, which is often. He doesn’t say things like that or throw around compliments all the time like some people do (*cough cough me*) which gives more weight to them when he does say them.And the day of my wedding day, it felt the same. He was there to serve and make the day as special as possible for his one and only “baby girl.”I had originally hoped to get married in front of a big, beautiful tree, but when that plan didn’t work out, God (of course) had a better plan in mind.My dad chopped down a tree from our land and built a cross. He handmade the backdrop for our wedding that we would say our vows under. That’s better than a tree if you ask me.He even had to carry the cross and joked that he had no clue how Jesus carried His for so long. But isn’t that beautiful that my dad carried that cross for me just like Jesus did? He knew that the end result would be beautiful so he endured the pain and the struggle.READ ALSO: What I Didn’t Say To My Mom On My Wedding DayI had a first look with my dad before the wedding started and the photographer captured the moment. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile that big. He didn’t have the words to say, but I knew he was in awe that his little girl was all grown up and about to marry the man she had always prayed for.As we made our way down the aisle that day, my bouquet got too heavy for me to carry. It was a pretty large bouquet and the water in the bottom of it made it very heavy. He said, “I’ll carry it. Just put your hand on mine and it’ll look like you’re carrying it.”Isn’t that what Jesus says to us, too? “Hey, I’ll carry this. Just put your hand in mine and we’ll make it down the aisle.”What a picture of Jesus my sweet daddy painted. His strength showed in my weakness and no one ever knew that I was about to drop the whole thing. He had my back...and my bouquet.As we got to the end of the aisle, and he announced that he and my mother were going to give me away, I started to cry and stood still. I wanted to marry my husband, but I was so sad to leave my dad. It felt so permanent, and so real. He looked at me and said, “Don’t be silly. Go!”With his blessing, I stepped forward into my new world with a new man to look up to. My dad still saw me as his little girl, but he honored that I was a woman with a new leader of my household. How full of grace.I never verbalized how much the moments I shared with my dad that day meant to me. From our surprise, choreographed dance to a mix of Bruno Mars and Will Smith, to watching him dance with my mom, he exemplified strength and love simultaneously.He carried the weight of my worries like he always has and I have no doubt that at some point he said, “Now THIS is my favorite day.”I know this post won’t make him cry, but I’m certain it will make him smile. I hope he knows that he made my wedding day so special. Without him, there would’ve been no tree to say our vows under. He built the ultimate representation of Christ and lived it out all the way down the aisle, too.To all you fathers of the bride, thank you for so graciously giving your little girls away to their grooms. We know it’s not easy, and you deserve so much credit for the way you loved them and led them to that crossroads on the best day of their lives.