Weddings are supposed to be happy occasions, but during the staged “wedding” for 11-year-old Josie Zetz, it was filled with sadness and the glaring reminder that her father wouldn’t be around to walk her down the aisle on her real big day.
Knowing that Jim Zetz, aged 62, was dying of pancreatic cancer, photographer Lindsey Villatoro helped the father and daughter stage some of the important moments in life that she knew the two would miss out on.
In 72 hours, Villatoro raised enough donations to buy a wedding dress, cake, flowers and all the other necessary stuff to make Josie and her father’s day wonderful.
Zetz walked Josie down the aisle and at the end, a pastor pronounced them “daddy and daughter”. He then placed a ring on a right-hand finger.
Although it is sad, the wedding will help Josie remember her father on her real wedding day, Villatoro said. She also filmed the tear-jerking event for the family.
“Josie, you will forever have a video of you and your dad walking you down the aisle to play at your wedding in years to come, as if he was physically there.”
[Source]
