Bride surprises grandma at nursing center before wedding reception

When Dinahlee Nava got married, there was one special person in her life who couldn’t make it to the ceremony — her grandmother Magdalena Gonzalez.
But Nava made sure to include her beloved grandma on her big day anyway, surprising Gonzalez at her nursing home in a touching video shared by Nava’s wedding content creator, Lauren Montoya.
Montoya’s TikTok video post quickly captured hearts online with over 215,000 views since Nov. 17.
In the video, Nava, 32, walks into her grandmother’s nursing home in Duncanville, Texas, in her wedding dress. When Gonzalez, 77, sees her granddaughter, she can’t help but exclaim, “Oh, my God!”
The grandmother-granddaughter duo are all smiles as the video continues and share hugs before Nava even gives her grandma a kiss on the cheek.
Nava told “Good Morning America” her grandmother couldn’t attend her wedding after experiencing two strokes, which impacted her left leg and walking ability.
“It’s difficult for her to walk, and being in large crowds overwhelms her at times,” Nava wrote in an email to “GMA.” “I wanted to respect her wishes. I know she loves me entirely and would have wanted to attend if she could. It just wasn’t physically possible.”
Nava said she considers her grandma her “hero” and a “second mother” who helped Nava’s mom raise her during her childhood.
“It was important to me to see my grandma before my big day, because her and I have a bond that couldn’t be broken,” Nava wrote. “I couldn’t have imagined not having a moment with her on my special day. She’s been there for every milestone in my life, and I’m blessed she got to see me in my dress. She was so proud.”