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A groom surprised his new bride by asking their wedding videographer to edit a secret clip of him requesting her late father’s blessing into their wedding video after he passed before the big day. In the years leading up to her marriage, Chelsea Gutierrez's father, Rolando, had been in ill health, suffering from heart failure and then, in 2023, being diagnosed with cancer. Her parents had separated, so Chelsea, 30, from Piscataway, New Jersey, had lived with her dad for more than a decade, spending time taking walks and enjoying each other's company. Chelsea would also help with her father's hospital visits, too, with her then-boyfriend, Thom Kho, also moving in to spend more time together and help with Rolando's care. Thom built up a close bond with Rolando, who enjoyed sharing jokes with him, and often took Rolando to hospital appointments when Chelsea and her sister weren't available. When Thom wanted to ask for Chelsea's hand in marriage, he secretly recorded himself, in hospital, asking for Rolando's blessing, and also captured Rolando seeing the ring he’d chosen for the first time. Thom proposed in May 2025, and the couple set their wedding day for July 7, 2026. Initially, despite his condition and treatment, it looked like Rolando would make the wedding, only for his condition to decline at the beginning of the 2026, before he passed in March, aged 82. Going into the wedding, Chelsea wanted to honor her father on the day itself, and so the couple added sweet touches, like including Rolando's tie he wore for Chelsea's eight grade dinner dance. But Thom had been thinking of surprises himself, and asked wedding videographer, RJ, of BeCool Studios, if he could add a tribute in the final wedding video. Thom had mentioned he had clips of Rolando giving him his blessing, and the videographer asked for those to be sent across. As they sat down on August 30 to watch the video for the first time, Chelsea was visibly emotional during the early parts of the video, which
Transcript
00:00I saw the videos of my dad.
00:12I couldn't even process what I would see because I've never seen those videos.
00:16My parents have been divorced for 12 plus years, so it's been me and my dad since 2017.
00:23My dad and I were really close, joked around a lot.
00:27That's probably where I got my sense of humor from.
00:29He was the main person taking us to my ballet lessons or swimming lessons or picking me up from school.
00:35He loved to tell stories about his time in the Philippines before he migrated here to America.
00:43Loved to talk about his past and how he never thought that he would become a father or even get
00:48married or have children.
00:49But having children was the biggest accomplishment he ever completed.
00:53He was suffering from heart failure and then in 2023 he was diagnosed with cancer.
00:59It was a lot of going to doctor's appointments for the radiation or chemo and then doctor's appointments to follow
01:08up with his cardiologist.
01:10If I couldn't take him to his appointment, Tom would step in and bring him to his appointments as well.
01:15Also, he really stepped up as his soon-to-be son-in-law.
01:19It was affecting the whole family and I noticed that she never wanted to inconvenience me.
01:26So I just, I kind of just stepped in on my own.
01:29I decided to move in here so I can help out as best as I can.
01:32So I always offer a helping hand every single day.
01:35When Tom would be at work and it was just me and my dad, he would just always compliment Tom
01:40and how helpful he is and how much of a good guy he is.
01:43And he would always be like, oh Chelsea, he's the one, you guys are very good for each other and
01:47know that he's going to take care of you.
01:50My dad loved him like his own, even before I married.
01:53I just wanted to have the respect from her father to give me his blessing and I wanted to document
01:59it just mainly for her sake.
02:01I wanted to ask you because it's, you know, it's your daughter.
02:05Yeah, yeah.
02:06It's only, it's only like to ask for permission from the main name.
02:09Yeah, of course.
02:10Is that okay?
02:12Very much okay.
02:13Very much okay.
02:15Yeah.
02:16I kind of wanted to make a little like nice little TikTok or video for her.
02:19What's this doing?
02:21And at the end, I was going to show us, you know, celebrating at the wedding with her dad and
02:27everything.
02:31Oh, my God.
02:34Very nice.
02:36He started declining pretty quick and I kept trying to motivate him and being like, hey, you know, the wedding's
02:40coming up.
02:41We're going to make it.
02:42That was my main goal, to get him to the wedding because I knew that was going to help Chelsea,
02:48you know, be at ease because her main goal was to dance with her and, yeah, dance with her father
02:55and, you know, walk down the aisle with her dad.
02:58But the heart failure really took a toll on him.
03:00I wish that he could have made it from March to July.
03:04It's not long.
03:05So it just pains me that he was able to make the last couple of months before the wedding.
03:09I didn't think I was going to ask RJ to put it in our wedding video.
03:14But then on the day I was telling him about the story, then it came to me and I was
03:18like, can you put it in our wedding video?
03:22Oh, my God.
03:24I had no idea how to start my vows.
03:27So I asked my brother, Kevin, and he gave me the best advice.
03:30He said vows aren't about listing all the reasons why you love someone because she already knows that.
03:35Vows are the promises you make to her.
03:37So Chelsea, I promise to bring you flowers for no particular reason other than it's a Wednesday.
03:41I promise to always cook you two slices of bacon and one egg for breakfast just the way you like
03:47it.
03:56Through everything I've endured, one thing stood out the most.
03:59I've been blessed with the man standing in front of me today.
04:02You are my world and my whole heart.
04:04And I am the luckiest woman to be alive to call you my husband.
04:10What day is it?
04:11It's wedding day!
04:20If I were to describe Tom, he's smart, resourceful, extra good looking.
04:25You know, more muscular version of me.
04:27He's consistent and driven by his goals.
04:29No one can really say that he can't do something because he'll just get it done just to prove he
04:33can.
04:34So I wanted to ask you because it's, you know, he's your daughter.
04:38And it's only, it's only right to ask the permission from the main man.
04:42Of course.
04:43Is that okay?
04:45Very much open.
04:46Very much open.
04:48You have come here today to seal and strengthen your love in the presence of your family and friends.
04:54God abundantly blesses your love.
04:56He has already consecrated you.
04:58And now he enriches and strengthens you so that you may assume the duties of marriage in mutual and lasting
05:04fidelity.
05:10As you start this new chapter, I know Papa is smiling and feels peaceful knowing that his youngest baby
05:17is in the most safest and loving hands possible.
05:20I love you just.
05:22Please just feel.
05:24Oh my God.
05:26It's nice.
05:27Very nice.
05:28That's for me.
05:29Awesome.
05:31Like Papa's words,
05:33Huag Papabaya Ansi Chelsea, which means in Tagalog, do not neglect her, do not abandon her, do not take her
05:40for granted.
05:41I gave him my word that I would never do that.
05:43And I intend to keep that promise to the man who loved her first for the rest of my life.
05:48It was happening quickly to the point where after the first scene of my dad, I blanked out for like
05:55two seconds.
05:55And I was just like, wow, I did not expect that.
05:58And then when the second scene came, I was like, oh wow, this is really like catching me off guard.
06:03In a very good way, of course.
06:04I just wanted her to remember our day as being one of the best days ever, you know, despite her
06:11dad not being there.
06:12I tell her like almost every day, like, I feel like none of this would have been possible without his
06:16spirit running through me.
06:18We honored him greatly that day.
06:22I think everybody felt it too.
06:26Hearing his voice again, that just, it filled my heart.
06:30It really touched my heart.
06:31He would have loved that too.
06:32If he could see that, he definitely would have, he would have been so, so loomed and so honored.
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