Emotional moment bride breaks down in tears when she discovers touching surprise her mom put in her wedding dress that paid tribute to her late dad

A young bride has burst into tears over the touching surprise her mother found sewn into her wedding dress following the sudden death of her father.

Natalie Crockett Jimenez, 25, was having her dress adjusted by her mother, Devona, when she was told to look at the bottom of her dress.

Stitched into the dress was a blue heart with the words, “I love you, Natalie, Dad,” and the Missouri pharmacist immediately recognized it as her late father’s handwriting and burst into tears that lasted the next 30 minutes.

Natalie’s father Bruce died of a sudden blood clot in 2015, and Devona had found his note in her daughter’s yearbook and had it digitized.

She then cut a blue heart out of his T-shirt and took it to her daughter’s seamstress to make the overwhelmingly sweet gift ahead of her wedding on August 12.

‘Is this his handwriting? Mom, where did you get the handwriting?’ Natalie asked through her tears. “Your yearbook,” her mother replied.

Previously, Natalie had searched for years for her father’s handwriting and had forgotten that one note.

She was overcome with emotion and thanked her mother for the touching gesture.

“Losing my dad has been the hardest thing for her and she’s been the one to pick it all up and glue it back together, so none of this would be possible without her, and I love her so much,” Natalie shared. Good morning America recently.

On TikTok, the moving 37-second fragment was viewed more than 3.2 million times and liked 452,000 times.

Natalie’s followers also expressed their awe at the emotional surprise.

One person wrote: ‘I want to pinch you every time I watch this. Losing a parent is hard, but I’m so glad you have such a sweet, thoughtful mother.”

Another said: ‘Oh my god I’m tearing up, that’s the sweetest thing!’

A third said: ‘You made me cry,’ while one wrote: ‘It made me cry, that was so precious.’

But the blue heart wasn’t the only tribute Natalie had for her big day to commemorate her father.

She also wore the locket he gave her, had a white balloon, a photo slideshow at the wedding reception, and a symbolic place card for the bride’s father at the table.

In addition to the most recent photo of her father, her brother-in-law made a special painting of Natalie in her wedding dress.

Natalie’s first thought after hearing the devastating news of her father’s death was the realization that he would not be attending her wedding. Her family’s personal touches helped comfort her on this special day.

This isn’t the first time Natalie has wanted to share a milestone with her late father. After graduating from college in 2023, she went to his gravestone after the ceremony.

In 2021, Natalie posted a long and emotional caption about what she misses most about her father, ranging from his “genuine excitement” about her “accomplishments, no matter how small or big, to birdwatching” and “underhanded sessions.”

She then vulnerably shared in her Facebook post: “Six years without you just seems unreal. It literally takes my breath away when I think about it. It feels like I lost you yesterday. But it also feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you.

‘I will always miss you and everything you were and I will always cherish the memories we have. I love you.’

Natalie has been with her current husband Uriel Jimenez for four and a half years. The couple met when he messaged her directly on Snapchat.

Their first dinner date took place in Los Portales and their second was a walk. Afterwards, Uriel asked Natalie to be his girlfriend in his truck.