A video has gone viral of the touching moment a bride danced with a cardboard cutout of her late mother on her wedding day.
Natalie Mulcahy’s, 27, mother Linda Thomas, 67, passed away in January 2021 after a two-year battle with cancer.
The bride from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire wanted to find a way to honor her mother on her special day, so the family brought along a life-size cardboard cut-out of their matriarch.
Natalie married her husband Carl Mulcahy in Cyprus in June.
The video shows the bride stepping onto the dance floor with her dad Colin Thomas, 69, for the father-daughter dance. As the two swayed to “Wind Beneath My Wings” by Bette Midler, they held onto the cardboard cutout of Linda to include her in the moment.
A video of the heartfelt moment was posted to TikTok and went viral with 104,200 views in just a few days.
The Thomas family was told that Linda only had a few weeks left to live during the Christmas holiday in 2021. In her final days, the mother of 12 was cared for by her loving husband and children.
“All five girls and my dad were present when she actually passed. It was the saddest day of our lives. The boys attended and managed to say their goodbyes on the night,” Natalie told Daily Mail.
After her passing, one of the sisters decided to purchase a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Linda to include her in future family events.
“Mum would normally be stood in the corner overlooking everybody at my sister’s home. We all decided she had to be at the wedding and my sister packed her into the suitcase and off she went,” Natalie said.
Natalie and Carl were married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony near the water at the Grecian Sands Hotel in Ayia Napa, Cyprus.
“When the day came, my mum was in position and the stage was set,” she explained.
The couple took their first dance together before Carl stepped in to dance with this daughter when he thought of including Linda and asked “Shall we?”
“She was picked up and kissed, and we danced together to one of her favorite songs, ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ by Bette Midler. There wasn’t a dry eye,” she remembered.
“The special lady in my life was at the special day in my life. The whole thing was emotional but had to be done.”