Daughter dreams of paying tribute to her single mother by letting her walk her down the aisle, mom insists that new boyfriend of 6 months join: ‘Absolutely no, that moment is for her and me’

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Aug 31, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

The most difficult part of planning a wedding is hands down dealing with family and their opinions on how your special day is supposed to go. No, it isn't finding a venue, or picking a wedding dress, or even staying within your budget. Again, it's the family, and I'll promise you that someone – your aunt, your mother-in-law, your own mom, or some estranged uncle – is going to have something to say about any of the aforementioned aspects of your wedding and they will try to convince you that they are right about it. 

I've personally experienced this while planning my own wedding. I'm not sure how I found myself arguing over text with a great aunt that I haven't talked to in almost 10 years, but she felt the need to reach out and try to persuade me into serving meat at my wedding. Both my partner and I are vegetarians; just go to a steakhouse before or something, lady!

This bride is also dealing with guests meddling with her dream wedding plans. She has always dreamed of having her mom walk her down the aisle; the act was meant to be a tribute to the years that her mother spent raising her alone after a divorce. But just two months before the wedding, mom asked if her boyfriend of just six months could also walk alongside her to symbolize him stepping into the role of father. The bride-to-be refuses; she's 26 and doesn't need a dad, and having this man she hardly knows participate completely ruins the symbolic nature of the act. Mom doesn't take the rejection too well, though. 

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  • 01

    AITA for refusing to let my mom bring her new boyfriend to walk me down the aisle with her?

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  • 02
    1 (26F) am getting married in two months. My parents divorced when I was 12, and my mom (52F) raised me as a single
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  • 03
    parent for a long time. I always imagined her walking me down the aisle, and she's known this for years.
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  • 05
    The issue is, she started dating a guy (58M) about six months ago. He's fine, but we're not close at all. Last week, she told me she thinks it would be "symbolic" if he
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  • 06
    walked me down the aisle with her, since he's "stepping into the father role I never had." I told her absolutely not, that moment is for her and me.
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  • 07
    She got upset and said I was being ungrateful and "rejecting her happiness." She even cried about it in front of my fiancé and
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  • 08
    said I was "trying to erase" her partner from my life. My dad isn't in the picture, so this feels like she's trying to rewrite my own wedding.
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  • 10
    My fiancé thinks I'm right, but my mom is still guilting me. AITA for putting my foot down?
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  • 11
    _Vermicelli2268 NTA I would tell her she can walk with me or I walk alone. I am not having some guy who has been in her life 6 months take such a central role at my wedding.
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  • 12
    If she's so desperate to walk an aisle with him they can go grocery shopping or get married themselves.
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  • 14
    Adventurous-Term5062 NTA. A 6 month relationship is not a father replacement.
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  • Sounds like she really isn't interested at her grown at of having a new father figure. Also, let's say for argument's sake that the concept is appealing to her, the man in question would have to prove himself as a worthy dad before being entitled to walk her down the aisle!

  • 15
    creativekinda Especially for a 26 year old.
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  • 16
    PoutSpicy Exactly, 6 months doesn't make him a dad or earn that role.
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  • 17
    Twidollyn_Bowie Right? I could see it if he had been married to her mother since OP was 5. Sometimes a stepdad is a father figure if the bio dad is not around, but this is just bizarre.
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  • I agree; if mom and her boyfriend were married or were a long term couple, I'd be a lot more inclined to side with them. 

  • 18
    MeltdownLipstick Yup. Six months of dating doesn't make him your dad. Your wedding day op isn't the place for your mom to play pretend family.
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  • 19
    upper59 Totally, some boundaries are sacred. That walk is her special moment, no extras needed.
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  • 20
    AyanaJehan Tell her it's YOUR wedding and to cut the theatrics. She can have him come. But she isn't going to have some rando hijack your wedding, stealing the spotlight
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  • 21
    Worth-Season3645 NTA....This is not about your mother's happiness, this is about your happiness on your wedding day. I don't know why your mother thinks that her boyfriend
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  • 22
    of only six months, someone you hardly know, deserves to walk you down the aisle on your wedding day? He is nothing to you as of yet. He has done nothing for you your whole life.
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  • 23
    You are not trying to erase her partner from your life. He was never in your life to begin with. He is only just now entering the picture.
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  • 24
    uteman1011 You're 26. He's been around for 6 months but somehow he's magically "stepped in to the father role "??
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  • 25
    I think not. If that's the case, why not just find a neighbor dad that you've known longer than 6 months? AA
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  • 26
    Massive-Wishbone6161 Fathrrs pay for weddings, if he is stepping up as dad, he needs to come with a fat cheque to pay for the entire first ☑
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  • 27
    Life-Wealth-3399 NTA next time mom brings it up, tell her she can choose, either she alone walks you down the aisle or you will walk yourself. If she keeps pushing tell her that she will be uninvited. Her choice.
    via u/Life-Wealth-3399

Tags

boyfriend relationship advice bride groom wedding drama motherhood relationships parenting wedding couples family daughter mom dating entitled people
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