After losing her parents when she was young, Katy Garrett found a meaningful way to include them in her wedding ceremony
Credit: Katy Garrett
NEED TO KNOW
- Katy Garrett lost both of her parents as a child and grew up fearing her wedding day because they wouldn’t be there to share it with her
- To honor them, she had her brother walk down the aisle carrying their photos and her mom’s wedding dress — a moment she later shared on TikTok that went viral
- She says the response from viewers reminded her she’s not alone in her grief and hopes her story brings comfort to others who have lost a parent
Katy Garrett grew up knowing that if she ever got married, the two people she wanted there most wouldn’t be in the room.
Her father died of cardiac arrest when she was 5, and her mother died from melanoma three years later, leaving Garrett and her older brother Kyle, 29, to be raised by their grandmother, who tried to give them as normal a childhood as possible after the loss.
Even so, one milestone always felt bittersweet.
“Ever since I was a little girl, my wedding day was actually one of my biggest fears,” Garrett, 28, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “You picture your parents being part of everything, and I knew mine wouldn’t be.”
Credit: Katy Garrett
Over the years, the Cincinnati, Ohio, local found herself thinking of ways she could include her parents in her wedding day, even though they wouldn’t physically be there.
Then one day, while going through old boxes, she came across her mother’s wedding dress — something her grandmother had saved for her for years. In that moment, Garrett knew it had to be part of the day somehow.
“The only person who really knows what it’s like to lose my parents is my brother," she says. "We went through it together, and I honestly don’t think either of us would have made it through our childhood without each other.
"I knew I wanted to honor him, too, so I asked him to walk our parents down the aisle to their seats, holding a photo of them in one hand and my mom’s wedding dress in the other," she adds. "He never hesitated. If anybody deserved to escort our parents into my wedding, it was my brother.”
Credit: Katy Garrett
Garrett, who is now a wife and mom to a 5-year-old daughter, says the emotions of the day didn’t fully hit her until just before the ceremony.
“If I’m being honest, I was panicking most of the day,” she recalls. “I had anxiety on and off, and my friends and family were doing everything they could to keep me calm and help me feel present.”
Everything shifted when her best friend handed her a small gift.
“She gave me a bouquet charm with a photo of my parents in it, along with a handwritten note,” Garrett says. “That was the moment I finally felt calm, complete and at peace. It felt like I could carry them with me. That’s when it really hit me — not only was my brother walking them to their seats, but they were also walking down the aisle with me.”
“The entire day was so emotional, but it also felt like I was closing a chapter I had been grieving for so many years,” she adds.
Credit: Katy Garrett
In February, Garrett decided to share a video to TikTok of the emotional moment Kyle walked down the aisle carrying photos of their parents.
To her surprise, the video quickly went viral, amassing more than 2.4 million views and hundreds of comments. As she read through the messages, she was overwhelmed by how many people saw their own stories reflected in hers.
“It made me realize how many people are carrying the same grief and the same fears I had for so long,” she says. “Losing my parents so young was incredibly hard, and it’s still hard as an adult. I still wish I could call my dad for advice or lean on my mom when I’m having a hard time. Most of all, I wish my daughter could have known them.”
@katymarie1997
It was such an emotional day @Yung Ky #dragpath #fyp
♬ son original – ౨ৎ
Now, Garrett says she hopes sharing the moment will help others who grew up without their parents feel less alone.
“There are days where I forget they even died — and then it hits me randomly on a Tuesday afternoon,” she says. “Grief is weird that way.”
“I’m still learning what it means to be a motherless and fatherless daughter,” she adds. “Losing my parents so young shaped me in ways I’m still discovering. It gave me a deeper understanding of grief, but also a bigger heart. Their legacy lives on in my brother and me — we’re the reminders of the mark they left on this world."
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