Her dad died before her wedding so her new husband hid his blessing in their wedding video

Chelsea Gutierrez thought she knew every moment that would be in her wedding video. Her husband had one more he had been saving.

A daughter and her papa

Gutierrez, 30, of Piscataway, New Jersey, lived with her father Ronaldo for more than 10 years. The two were close. He struggled with heart failure for years and then learned in 2023 that he had cancer. As his health got worse she became one of his caregivers.

Her boyfriend at the time, Thom Kho, moved in with the family so he could help out and spend more time with them.

A secret visit to the hospital

When Kho decided it was time to propose he went to see Ronaldo in the hospital first. He set up his phone and recorded himself asking for permission to marry his daughter. He also filmed Ronaldo's face the first time he saw the ring.

Ronaldo said yes. Kho proposed in May 2025 and the couple set a date for July 2026. Ronaldo did not make it to the big day. His health took a turn earlier this year and he died in March at 82.

Papa was there anyway

The couple made sure he was part of the wedding. One touch was the tie he had worn to Chelsea's eighth-grade dinner dance. They had "Love, Papa" stitched onto it in his own handwriting, copied from the last birthday card he ever wrote her.

Kho had one more surprise. He quietly worked with their videographer to slip the hospital footage into the finished wedding film. Gutierrez had never seen it.

Happy tears

Her reaction when she watched it for the first time has been spreading online this week and it is a tearjerker in the best way. There is her dad giving his blessing. There is his smile when he sees the ring.

Viewers called it one of the sweetest things a groom could do. Many said they were crying along with her. Her father could not walk her down the aisle. Thanks to her husband he still got to say yes.