Bride stops father-daughter dance to invite her 3 sisters to join in — the tribute left the wedding party in tears

A father thought he was sharing a traditional father-daughter dance when his youngest got married. However, halfway through the song, she stopped and waved her three sisters over for a surprise that left the entire room in tears. The bride was 29-year-old Marissa Nielsen, who planned the moment to honor her father, Greg Wickles, at her June wedding in Vermont, reported PEOPLE. She was the last of his four daughters to get married, and she wanted the dance to include them all. She posted the moment on her TikTok page @marissnielsen, which went viral, garnering 797k views and 109k likes so far.

In the TikTok video, Marissa and her father begin dancing to the song "Give Me Away" by Riley Roth. Just seconds into the dance, Marissa's three older sisters, Sarah, Kelley, and Natalie, along with a couple of their young children, join them on the dance floor, holding hands and dancing together as the crowd looks on in absolute awe. "This was the last wedding my parents helped put together, and I felt it was only right to include my sisters,” Marissa told PEOPLE. "My parents gave us the best childhood and gave me my first three best friends since birth."

The idea came to Marissa after hearing the song "Give Me Away," which was originally written for Roth’s own father-daughter dance. As Marissa listened to the lyrics, she realized how much they resonated with her own feelings about her father. "Every word she sang rang true to how I felt and everything I wanted to say to him," Marissa said. The surprise left her father "totally speechless," Marissa recalled. "You could tell it was an emotional moment," she added. "Just a small gesture to show [my dad] how much we all love and appreciate him for raising us four girls and always being there for us."

For Marissa, the dance was a tribute to her father’s love and the bond they shared as a family. "My dad showed me what it looks like to be a loving husband and father," Marissa said, adding that she hopes her own marriage can live up to the example set by her parents. Moments like this remind people why weddings continue to hold such emotional weight. As sociologist Julia Carter’s paper, "The Wedding: Constructing Family Meaning Through Ritual," explains, family-centered gestures during weddings often become lasting symbols of connection and shared identity. Carter argues that weddings act as rituals that separate a couple’s relationship from everyday life, turning it into a symbolic event with deep meaning.

The video sparked heartfelt responses from viewers, who were as moved as the live crowd. @mamapgigip said, "So selfless of the bride. It speaks to how much she values her family and what kind of bond they have as sisters!!" @user4273589645903 shared, "We did something very similar. I was the last child of three to get married. We had a last dance as the original 5. Not a dry eye in the room. One of my favorite moments was captured that day." @buchert.family commented, "My cousin was only able to afford a small wedding at the park, so she didn’t have a father-daughter dance. I knew how upset she was about it, so at my wedding, I let her and her dad have their dance." 

You can follow Marissa (@marissnielsen) on TikTok for more personal content.

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