Normally, when grooms cry on their wedding day, it’s because of how beautiful their bride is when she walks down the aisle. However, groom Elliot Gwilliam, 34, was crying for a whole other reason.
His three-year-old daughter left him the sweetest message anyone could ever ask for before her mother walked down the aisle, leaving Gwilliam unable to control his tears.
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He was waiting for his wife-to-be
The video went viral on TikTok, with over 13 million likes. The wedding was held at Hawkstone Hall and Gardens in Hodnet, Shropshire, on December 28.
The groom was waiting for his wife-to-be, Emma Beddow, 27, down the aisle when he heard his daughter’s voice blaring through the venue.
The tear-jerking adorable speech
In the TikTok video, his daughter, Evie, can be heard saying: “Hello daddy, it’s me, Evie. I’m walking down the aisle and will be with you now because you’re going to marry my mummy – and she looks beautiful. Like me.”
Evie was as excited as her father
Evie continued her heartwarming speech, saying: “We love you so so much, to the moon and back. Love you lots and lots, like Jelly Tots. See you in a minute. See ya, don’t wanna be ya. You see alligator.” This whole time, Gwilliam couldn’t hold in his tears.
The groom was speechless
Gwilliam was so touched by his daughter’s recording, saying: “It’s unreal. We’d been planning the wedding for about 12 months. I actually wasn’t nervous as I stood there waiting for Emma. I thought ‘Nah, I’ve got this.'”
He continued, saying: “Then I heard Evie’s voice and within moments I was gone. I don’t think I managed to pull myself together until Emma was alongside me.”
He wasn’t the only one in tears
“I did not stand a chance. But I wasn’t the only one. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, especially when Evie came down the aisle as one of the flower girls. She is such a character and always keeps us on our toes,” Gwilliam said about his daughter and guests.
The man behind the footage
Wedding videographer Owen Bloor, of JOL Videography was the man behind the emotional wedding footage. He told the BBC: “I can’t believe how crazy it’s gone. I’m so happy for the couple as well, because it’s such a moment that people are going absolutely mental for; it’s lovely.”
It was the bride’s idea
Bloor continued, saying that the idea behind Evie’s touching recording was that of Beddow. “Emma, the bride, messaged me a few days before and said, ‘I’d love to do this idea,'” he said. The execution was something out of this world and Bloor was there to capture it.
Bloor was proud of capturing this moment
“Elliot was really emotional about it; you can tell in the video. He just says, ‘Nah,’ and that’s it. He was emotional anyway, and it was such an amazing moment for us to be able to capture.” The videographer explained further to the BBC.
Everyone knew but the groom
“The bride knew, the venue knew… I knew, and the photographer knew. I’m not sure about the bridesmaids. It’s just making sure I can position him in the right position, and I can capture that the right way and just let the moment unfold and let it be what it is,” Bloor explained.
Viewers were also in awe
People on social media were emotional, too, with one of them saying: “Please play this at her wedding before you leave a message to her about walking her down the aisle… I cannot handle this.”
Another jokingly added: “The wife wasn’t taking no chances, she made sure that man would cry when she walked down the aisle.”
