Best Wedding Present – Her Father’s Heart

What is the best wedding present you have ever given or received? There is a touching story going around the internet about another idea for the best wedding present. A man was given a heart. This heart belonged to the father of a bride. The bride was walked down the aisle by the man who received her father’s heart. Can you imagine her feelings?

Your wedding day is already emotional enough. Even the night before is full of many different feelings. I remember thinking and saying things like, “this is my last night sleeping as a single woman in bed, my last single dinner, my last single car ride,” etc. There is an art to letting go as you are getting married, but there is also a time of rejoicing as you are united with the one made for you.

Best Wedding Present – The Story

During this event offering the best wedding present, the bride (Jeni Stepien Maenner of Arlington, Virginia) explained the touching communication between her and the man who received her father’s heart. This blessed man to be alive due to this heart is Arthur Thomas (Tom from New Jersey). It is difficult to even write this blog, without crying because the story is so moving.

Her father (Michael) was a great athlete and baseball fan. He was sadly, murdered during a robbery in 2006. A caring and loving man, who will be missed by many is still alive through the donation of his heart to Tom. It is a tragic story turned into triumph, when his heart was given to Tom, after being on a wait list for 10 years.

Best Wedding Present – A Memorable Quote

Jeni explained the intimate moments with Tom and her real father through his heart, the day of the wedding. According to Good Morning America’s article, Jeni said, “Before we walked down the aisle, we had this moment where he said, ‘If it’s OK with you, when I’m ready to offer your hand to your husband, you can touch my chest and feel my heart.’ It was so awesome to have a piece of my father physically there.” Are you breathless, just as much as I was reading this emotional statement?

Jeni has stayed close to her father through writing letters back and forth to Tom, since her real father passed away. She asked Tom if he would walk her down the wedding aisle. She even had a touching father-daughter dance with him. What a blessing and the best wedding present ever. They are all one big happy family, and they lived happily ever after.

Best Wedding Present – Your Heart felt Stories Saved Forever in a Wedding Time Capsule

This is similar to what the Wedding Time Capsule is all about. Pass on those things that matter to you the most. What is one of the most precious gifts you have ever received? Save mementos and memorabilia from the first year of your marriage. Have guests, friends, and family members fill out the “Message to the Future” letters as they wait on the bride and groom to take their photos before coming to the reception after the wedding. What words of wisdom or predictions could they write about in these fun and special letters? Write about your best marriage advice to the couple in the future on their 25th anniversary, when they open the time capsule again. Where do you think they will live or how many kids do you think they will have? When the wedding time capsule is opened again, you will find out if your predictions came true. It is a heartfelt, enduring, and unique gift.

So, what is the best wedding present you have ever seen? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie