Father of The Bride

Father of The Bride sure was a funny, yet heart wrenching, movie about letting go. George, the father of the bride, portrayed by Steve Martin, is going insane about his little girl getting married. He can’t imagine life without her, but life goes on as he has to face the fact that his only daughter has grown up and has to deal with her life.

This father feels as if he is LOSING his daughter.

She may no longer 'need' him...
Someone else will be there to protect her...
He hopes he has done his job well...
He is so proud of the woman she has grown to be...

George and many wonderful fathers have encountered these thoughts.

Wow. Hard stuff....but an HONOR!

You see, the bride really has the choice of who she chooses to 'give her away', right? In this case, Annie shows her love for her dad by extending him this place of distinction and respect. The bride admires this man's moral principles and in a sense declares this person has made a significant contribution to her very own character.

To walk the bride down the aisle clearly is an indication of superior status in the woman's life.

In a perfect world, every father of the bride would walk his precious little girl down the aisle. However, it goes without saying that there are far too many fathers unworthy of such a distinguished position in a woman's life. When a father is absent, a brother, uncle, or grandfather may be the one to take his place.

For the bride whose father simply was not there through her most difficult years, she may not want to extend this honor to him. He may be at the wedding and have to watch his little girl give that honor to another; one who impacted her life in a way that he should have. I witnessed this recently and it was heartbreaking hearing the father's testimony as to what went wrong in their relationship. For him, there was much soul searching. It seemed at every turn, where he wanted to stand there was another man glorified in his place. And it was not the groom. In many ways, he had already lost his daughter's heart.

This father was not there when his daughter needed him.
He was not there to protect her most of her life.
In her eyes, her father did not do his job.
It was another who she could always count on.

My feelings are all over the place on this one, honestly. Every story is a different one and complex in it's own way. My own father did not walk me down the aisle and I still experience pain in my heart over that.

This is the reason I was called to help this father get to his daughter's wedding. The bride wanted him there but he did not have transportation to make the trip. Though I had not had any contact with this person in over thirty years, I knew I had to get him to his little girl's wedding. She had to have her dad there. It was a day meant for them to share even though he would not receive that place of distinction on her wedding day.

It truly was bittersweet...