Bride brings wedding forward so ill dad can walk her down aisle

WHEN Victoria Owen learned her father Frank Pumford was living with end-stage pulmonary fibrosis, she wanted to create a memory they would cherish forever.

- BETHANY GAVAGHAN

"For me, I wouldn’t get married if he wasn’t there to walk me down the aisle so I booked it without him knowing," she said.

Instead of the original plan of a simple register office ceremony, the 53-year-old from Tonypandy announced to her parents she would be marrying her partner Hugh Williams in the same chapel where they tied the knot 54 years ago.

Hermon Chapel in Treorchy, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, which has not hosted a wedding in more than three decades, opened its doors once again for the special occasion on Saturday.

And for Victoria, it has become a tribute to her family’s history and a moment of happiness during a challenging time.

“I can’t wait,’ she told us a few days before the wedding.

“My dad was quite shocked at the beginning [when I told him].

“He thought I was telling fibs so I showed him the email. They were both a little bit emotional about it.”

Explaining the decision to move their wedding date forward, Victoria said: “Obviously with my dad’s condition progressing so quickly it was a big concern.