Groom’s ex stands up at wedding just as his bride begins her vows

Weddings are magical things. The bride has often planned this moment since she was a child. The type of dress she will wear, the color scheme, the guest list, the venue, no detail is too small. Sometimes the groom is involved with the process and sometimes they even have their own little touches that they want to add to the ceremony or the reception. For one bride, she had the regular demands but there was one that seemed rather odd and surprised all of her guests including the groom.
It all began in 2013 when the couple in question first met each other. Enter Jeremy Musser and Katie Hild, the couple at the heart of this strange wedding story. They had no idea that they would end up walking down the aisle together just four years later in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. But like any relationship, not everything was sunshine and roses. Jeremy had a secret which he had to share with Katie early on which would shape their relationship for the rest of their lives and make Katie want a certain someone else by her side.

Family Baggage

It is important to always be upfront with any new potential partner, especially when you have someone else in your life that depends on you. You see, Jeremy had a son. Katie was surprised to hear about Landon’s existence but it was not a deal breaker for her.

She appreciated that Jeremy had told her the truth instead of trying to hide it until he felt she was ready to know. But there was yet another shock in store for her.

Age Is But A Number

At the time Katie and Jeremy first met, she had just turned 20 and felt like she was just starting her life. Meeting Jeremy was definitely the start of something new but finding out that he had a son was a little bit hard to handle. She could not fight her feelings for him and decided that she was okay with it but she did want to know his age.

Was he a toddler? No, and this was the really shocking part for Katie, Jeremy’s son Landon had only been born three weeks ago. Katie thought back on the timeline of their relationship. She had actually met Jeremy three weeks before his son was born!

Meet The Ex

The mother of Jeremy’s child was a woman named Casey Jo Booker. She and Jeremy were attempting to co-parent even though they were not together.

Jeremy decided that Katie was quickly becoming an important part of his life so it was important that she and the mother of his child meet. As you can imagine, this meeting did not go very well. Neither of the women particularly liked each other, so would they ever have an easy co-parenting life?

Previous Relationships

Katie was young and this situation confused her, and for Casey, well she felt like Katie was stealing the father of her child from her. Katie knew that she was already falling for Jeremy which meant Casey and Landon would also be a permanent feature in her life.

This point in a relationship is always a huge step when it comes to children from a previous relationship, a lot of the time you have to put some of your feelings on the side and deal with a sometimes, not so comfortable situation.

Making Peace

Katie made an executive decision and that was that she and Casey were going to make peace with each other and the fact that they both needed and wanted Jeremy in their lives.

Landon was the glue that held them all together and he was completely innocent in this tricky situation. Being the kind-hearted person she is, Katie messaged Casey and asked her if she would be willing to meet up with her.

Working On It

Katie wanted the women to get together one on one, she felt it was important that the two get to know each other as she felt they had gotten off to a rough start. Casey agreed and that first meeting was just the beginning.

Katie hoped that the meeting would go well, but of course, in these kinds of situations, a person can never know. Either way, she knew that the most important thing for her and her relationship was to make peace somehow, otherwise, she would have been looking at a difficult future.

A Coffee Date

The first time the two met up without Jeremy was for a neutral coffee date. Neither of them was particularly looking forward to it but they both knew it had to happen for the good of baby Landon.

Over time, and many coffee meetings and play dates with Landon the two found themselves becoming fast friends. Jeremy was thrilled that the two women in his life were able to get along so well.

Growing

It also made parenting a lot easier with three pairs of hands rather than just two who did not live together. Landon found himself with two moms who truly loved him.

The situation had definitely developed since they all first met. Overtime as Landon got a bit older, Casey began to date again and she ended up meeting the man of her dreams.

Enter Casey’s Love Interest

His name was Tyler, and he was alright with the fact that she had a young child but what he did not understand was the weird three-way parenting dynamic she had with her ex and his girlfriend.

Eventually, Tyler was able to accept the family dynamic and proposed to Casey. Of course, she said yes and the two got married shortly after.

Jeremy And Tyler

While Tyler had accepted the situation he by no means would have said that he ‘liked’ it. Jeremy wanted to talk to Tyler about things after he decided to propose to Katie. As Tyler was Landon’s step-dad, Katie, who had been there since his birth was also his step-mom.

He felt that Tyler and he should try and get on the way Katie and Casey did as it would be best for the child they all shared. Tyler did not want to hang out with him like that.

The Big Day

Everyone was invited to Katie and Jeremy’s wedding. It had been planned for a while and all their friends and family were thrilled that the two had found each other and overcome such a difficult situation so early on.

Each family member had their own special part in the wedding ceremony. Katie’s mom had actually got ordained so that she could be the officiant at the wedding and marry them. Katie could not wait to finally be married to Jeremy.

Wedding Guests

The pair believed that they had arranged everything perfectly, with small touches put in place that would make their day the best one yet.

Although the two families were co-parenting Landon, some guests were still on edge wondering how comfortable Jeremy’s ex actually was at the wedding. Would she somehow disturb their special day or was everything really as good as they thought?

A Surprise Participant

During the ceremony, Katie and Jeremy began to say their vows to each other. But all of a sudden Katie paused which left everybody confused. She turned away from Jeremy and looked out at the guests.

Katie addressed Casey and said that she needed her to rise from her pew because there was something she wanted to say to her. Confusion spread through the room, why was Katie talking to Casey in front of everyone like this?

Some Backstory

As the confusion continued to spread, Katie began to explain why she was addressing Casey. She gazed out at the crowd of guests and launched into a speech about how Casey and she first met, how they were not overly fond of each other, and how now they are the closest of friends.

Little Landon tied them together at first but in the end, they realized they had a lot in common and she wanted Casey to know that she now considers her a member of her own family.

A Simple Gift

Casey was not a bridesmaid but Katie still wanted her to know she was a part of this wedding and this speech was proof of that.

Before Katie had stepped out onto the aisle for her wedding march she and Casey had spent a few moments together and Katie had gifted her one of the bracelets decked out with sunflowers that was a gift for the rest of her bridal party. Casey was beyond touched and began to cry.

The Speech Itself

In the speech that Katie gave to Casey, she highlighted all of the many ways she would do right by Landon; the son that they now officially shared. As a step-mom, she knew that her role would be just as important as a biological mother’s.

The gist of it was that they were all in this family together even if Tyler felt uncomfortable by it all. They were both very emotional by this point and all of the guests were awestruck by how close-knit the two families were.

The End Of The Speech

The speech was finished when Katie described all the ways that Casey had included her in the milestones of Landon’s life. When he first began to walk, Casey messaged her.

The first time he got a tooth she was told about it. Literally, everything was shared between these two women. Casey treated Katie as if she was also Landon’s mom in every way and did not resent her at all. But how did they do it?

Altogether

All it had taken was Katie extending an olive branch and now these two were like sisters. For Landon, his life, that he had once thought was going to be difficult when it came to his parents, was now full of love and joy. He was over the moon about having not two, but three active and loving parents.

If his mom’s relationship headed in the direction she wanted, he would soon be looking at four parents. Landon was the person that brought them all together and he was very proud of that.

So Much Love

The speech was complete when Katie closed with some especially touching remarks about love. She claimed that she did not know what it was like to love or be loved like this until she met the three of them.

The situation caused her to grow up quickly but she was happy about that. She met the love of her life, and the family that she never knew she wanted but couldn’t imagine living without now.

A Message For Landon

Katie did not plan to leave little Landon out of her speech. She had decided that she would honor every part of their blended family. After she was done praising Casey and explaining how grateful she was, she asked Landon to come over to her.

Crouching down at eye-level she looked at Landon with tears in her eyes and told him she planned to be his father forever and that each and every one of them was in her heart, him especially.

All Or None

This speech had been planned for a long time. Katie knew that it was necessary because her relationship with Jeremy had never been just the two of them but the four of them, and with Tyler now five.

After pledging her love to Landon and Casey, she was ready to finally finish saying her vows to her soon-to-be husband Jeremy. Jeremy could not believe that he had found such an amazing life partner.

Tyler Relents

At the wedding reception, everyone was in excellent spirits and emotions were still running high after such a touching speech. Tyler, Casey’s husband, finally realized that this was his whole family. This would never just be Casey, him, and Landon. Instead, they would all be raising Landon together.

He finally decided to make amends with Jeremy and said he would like to grab a beverage with him in the future if he was still open to it. And of course he was, all he wanted was for everyone to get on.

Sharing Is Caring

So how did we learn about this touching story? Naturally, it went viral across social media when Katie decided to post about her wedding on Facebook. The speech during the vows had been caught on tape and the moment was too beautiful to not be shared with the world.

She wanted to show the world that no matter what children come first, and anything else doesn’t matter. Love conquers all. But this story did not stop there.

Her Message

The message of love and hope that Katie shared began to spread across the net which meant that a lot of people shared the post. As it was shared and commented on the message that family is what you make it became a much-discussed topic.

Some people do not like to put aside differences and make things work but her inspiring story and homage to her husband’s ex really put a spin on things.

Closing Notes

With this outpouring of positivity coming in from around the globe, Katie felt like she was doing her part to create a small ripple effect like change. She hoped that people would read this story and try and make the most of their own family situations.

If everyone works hard at it and does their best-blended families can run smoothly. It will not be easy but overtime a rhythm will form and everyone will learn how to interact with each other.

The Family Continues To Grow

While the wedding ceremony was the highlight of this story, some other happy news also hit the media with Landon going to become a big brother. This family of five is now going to be a family of six with Casey and Tyler expecting a little one of their own.

We’re sure that Landon will be an excellent brother and Katie will take on an auntie type roll. One thing is for sure, this whole family treasures children.

Steps To Learn How To Co-Parent

We know that co-parenting isn’t easy, this story definitely highlighted that but there are some things that both sides of the blended family can do to learn how to work together.

Both sets of parents can sit down, put their differences aside and discuss how they want their children to be raised. That way they form a cohesive unit rather than having all sorts of different rules which can be very confusing for small children.

The End

This is a true tale of two couples overcoming some pretty insurmountable odds. We know that our takeaway from it is that everything takes work but if everyone is willing to put in the effort then great things can be achieved.

We hope that going forward everyone takes a few lessons from this lovely family. Children should always come first and nothing works if there is no love involved. Children are a treasure!