# Is it just me, or is this "walking down the aisle at eleven" thing weird? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 2, 2014, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153 "2014-04-02T08:30:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/21 "2014-04-02T16:28:21Z")
Had two other thoughts; 1. The girl looks really sad from the parts I watched. It seems more like a reminder that he won’t be there when she’s about to lose him anyway. 2. I can’t help but wonder if this is an elaborate april fools prank just because of the timing of all the news articles. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/22 "2014-04-02T17:39:19Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > 1. I can’t help but wonder if this is an elaborate april fools prank just because of the timing of all the news articles. Oh I’m sure it’s not. [Here](http://www.fotolanthropy.com/the-evans-family/)’s the other story I was talking about with the adult daughters. I guess they didn’t even know their dad planned this! I would be mortified if my dad did that! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/23 "2014-04-02T17:42:08Z")
> [@Morwen Edhelwen](#): > > Certainly seems oddly creepy-- the girl is 11. And how do we know that she sees herself getting married when she’s older? If what you mean was “how does she know she’ll get married at all” she doesn’t, but, let’s be honest, the odds are pretty good that she will. Most people do get married at some point. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/24 "2014-04-02T17:50:51Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Not as creepy as, say, purity balls Having never heard that term before, I was relieved to find out what it was. I hadn’t even considered the dance sense of the word. Still weird, though. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/25 "2014-04-02T17:57:39Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > Oh I’m sure it’s not. > > [Here](http://www.fotolanthropy.com/the-evans-family/)’s the other story I was talking about with the adult daughters. I guess they didn’t even know their dad planned this! I would be mortified if my dad did that! Perhaps not then. I guess I just find anything in the news on 4/1 to be suspect. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/26 "2014-04-03T03:15:48Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I have to say that if there was any cajoling involved in getting her to participate, then it’s inappropriate. [It was kind of sprung on her.](http://vimeo.com/89526392) > [@](#): > > Last week I requested that if any of you wished to lend a hand in making my clients 11 year old birthday with her terminal father the best, to contact me. Many of you did. Well as usual I mustered up a crazy idea and tried my best to not only make it happen but keep it a secret. I did pretty dang well at doing so until I clued the 23 of you in that helped on what was actually happening the night before. You see about 4 days before this event I contacted Grace and asked her what she thought about having a mini wedding for Josie. She mentioned she was so emotional about her dad not being there for memories down the line so I figured we would make some now. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/27 "2014-04-03T03:54:06Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > [It was kind of sprung on her.](http://vimeo.com/89526392) [This](http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/staged-wedding-provides-terminally-ill-father-a-chance-to-walk-his-daughter-down-the-aisle-184705025.html?vp=1) yahoo article makes it sound like it was sprung on both of them by the photographer who then brought the mother into the plan. And the mother thought it would just be some posed pictures with a dress off the rack and a cake. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/28 "2014-04-03T11:16:12Z")
> [@photographer](#): > > Last week I requested that if any of you wished to lend a hand in making my clients 11 year old birthday with her terminal father the best, to contact me. Many of you did. Well as usual I mustered up a crazy idea and tried my best to not only make it happen but keep it a secret. I did pretty dang well at doing so until I clued the 23 of you in that helped on what was actually happening the night before. You see about 4 days before this event I contacted Grace and asked her what she thought about having a mini wedding for Josie. She mentioned she was so emotional about her dad not being there for memories down the line so I figured we would make some now. Read: “I wanted to exploit a family’s tragedy because I’m an attention-whoring money-grubber.” If Josie is the kind of girl who likes to dress up and playing “wedding” and get lots of attention, it’s not so bad. But if she’s not into these things, then the photographer needs to drop the pretense that this was all for her. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/29 "2014-04-03T12:30:42Z")
n/m ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/30 "2014-04-03T12:47:26Z")
We had one of these things on the local news awhile back, though the daughter was older. It was non stop for weeks and I grew to really dislike the young lady. It didn’t feel like it was anything but an attention grab for herself and a way to get others to throw her a big party. Blech, I hate the whole idea. Maybe I’ll just plan my funeral now so I can attend and my family can tape it for later when I really die. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/31 "2014-04-03T13:48:38Z")
I suppose he could have just died and let a taxidermist mount him on wheels so he could walk her down the aisle when she really got married. I’m in the “hey, if it’s his dying wish and the daughter is ok with it, why not?” camp. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/32 "2014-04-03T16:42:31Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I do not consider it outside the ordinary range of human behavior. It’s a tradition for the father to walk the bride down the isle which has meaning behind it. The meaning is not lost with this modification to it, so it the the family following the tradition under their circumstances which will most likely not be able to be done in the conventional means. Traditionally the “meaning behind it” is a father walking a piece of his property down the aisle and transferring it to its new owner. Which is why my father, who was on a feminist kick when I was a teen, made a point to tell me he wouldn’t be walking me down the aisle ever. Also, one of the memes that comes up on “Say Yes to the Dress” is the mom who always dreamed of going dress shopping with her daughter. Since there was no wedding in sight for me, I told my mom how sorry I was that it didn’t look like she would live this dream. 😛 She said, “I never even dreamed about my own dress let alone yours!” Yeah, my parents were married 44 years when mom died, and didn’t really recommend it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/33 "2014-04-03T19:48:10Z")
And then he sat in a stadium Photoshopped with people and pretended to watch her graduation from college? And then the father held a fake doll and pretended it was his first grandchild? And then he took a puppet and went out back and threw a baseball to his future fake grandson? ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/34 "2014-04-03T23:53:26Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > It sounded from the article as though it was really for the dad’s sake. Which…ok, I’m not quite heartless enough to deny a dying guy one of his last wishes. I do think he could have found a better last wish, though. Yes, definitely this. I thought it was creepy and that the little girl looked uncomfortable. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/35 "2014-04-04T00:03:30Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Yeah, its a bit creepy. Agree completely! No Facebook posts about it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/36 "2014-04-04T01:33:32Z")
Creepy isn’t the word. Sounds like the only reason this jerk had a daughter was for her wedding day. The kid’s lucky he won’t be around. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/37 "2014-04-04T01:37:07Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Creepy isn’t the word. Sounds like the only reason this jerk had a daughter was for her wedding day. > > The kid’s lucky he won’t be around. I think it’s creepy and weird and obnoxious, but that seems a bit harsh. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/38 "2014-04-04T01:47:31Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Death IS weird and creepy and stuff. It’s more usual than you’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2014, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/39 "2014-04-04T02:24:17Z")
Again, this wasn’t the father’s ‘dying wish’ or staged by the family. This was sprung on the father and daughter and staged by the photographer with motivations I’m very suspicious of. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153/40 "2014-04-05T00:09:45Z")
In addition to the suspect photographer angle, here’s why this strikes me as creepy. It’s the assumption that a girl’s wedding day is of course The Most Significant Event in her life. I’m not a huge fan of the dad walking daughter down the aisle, but I don’t find it creepy as such in actual weddings I attend. And of course, for those of us who have married, it was a really big day in our lives. But to project into the future and assume a big white wedding is the signal event in the girls’ life ignores her individuality completely. Maybe she won’t marry. Maybe she’ll want to marry another woman, but they live in a state where it’s not recognized. Maybe she and her partner will disdain all of the traditional stuff and elope, or spontaneously decide to hit up the Justice of the Peace, or jet off to Vegas with only their best friends in tow. It’s just so presumptuous, and of course that’s piled on the nasty cultural legacy that getting married and pumping out babies is the highest (and only, really) calling for a woman. I feel really bad for the father and daughter to have this foisted on them. Because once it’s sprung on you, what are you going to do, say no and walk away? Blech on this photographer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-this-walking-down-the-aisle-at-eleven-thing-weird/685153.md?page=3)