A UK dad grabbed the hand of his daughter’s stepdad and pulled him up on her wedding day—so they could both walk her down the aisle.
Bride Amy Walkinshaw, 31, knew as soon as she got engaged to Ryan Walkinshaw, 31, that she wanted both men to be involved in giving her away.
Mrs. Walkinshaw, from Essex in southeast England, was raised by both her dad, Andy Collins, 58, a train driver, and her stepdad, Jeff Bennett, 64, a project manager—who has been in her life for the past two decades.
She wanted to honor both father figures at the wedding, which took place on Saturday, June 24, at Prested Hall, Colchester, Essex.
So, Mrs. Walkinshaw, a student studying psychodynamic practice at the University of Essex, asked her dad to go and surprise Mr. Bennett by grabbing him from the audience to walk down together.
“Jeff has been in my life for 20 years, he is basically a second dad to me,” Mrs. Walkinshaw said.
“I always imagined if I got married I'd ask him to walk me down the aisle as well as my dad.
“Jeff didn’t know it was coming either—you can tell in the video the shock on Jeff’s face, I knew how much it meant to him.
“The main thing to come out of it is to show there doesn’t have to be animosity.
“You can ask a step-parent without upsetting your biological dad too.”
Mrs. Walkinshaw said Mr. Bennett and her dad didn’t know each other too well—as they live a distance apart.
But Mr. Collins “agreed straight away” when she asked if Mr. Bennett could walk her down the aisle as well, she said.
On the day, Mrs. Walkinshaw’s younger half-sister, Macenzie Collins, 23, watched the emotional moment.
“Me and my sister have lived 150 miles from each other since I was born so we don’t see each other a lot,” said Ms. Collins, a meetings and events assistant.
“So, it was really nice to share that moment with each other.
“I don’t know Jeff that well either, but that just made [it] more special that we all got to be there together as a blended family.”
Mrs. Walkinshaw said, “I asked my dad to walk me down the aisle straight away because he’s my dad.
“But Jeff is such a big part of my life too and I couldn’t imagine not doing it with him.”
