A dad has been accused of "playing favourites" by people online after he openly admitted to refusing the request from one of his daughters to walk her down the aisle at her wedding - but agreeing to do so for his other child.
Sharing his story anonymously on Reddit, the dad explained he has two daughters, 27-year-old Marie and 23-year-old Julie, but Julie is not his biological daughter and instead he adopted her as his own when he married her mum.
Julie is set to get married in October and the dad has agreed to walk her down the aisle, but when Marie announced that she would also be tying the knot this year, he wouldn't accept the same honour from her.
He said: "I have two daughters, Marie and Julie. For context, Julie is not my biological daughter, but I married my current wife when Julie was only two, and since her dad was absent I adopted her as my own. I love both my daughters the same.
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"This being said, I am closer to Julie since she currently lives with us and we do almost everything together. Marie is closer to her mum, mainly because her mum got full custody of her when we divorced, and she has never lived with me.
"Now, to the main issue. Julie got engaged about a year ago and immediately asked me to walk her down the aisle. I of course agreed and have actively helped her with the planning of the wedding, which is scheduled for October 2022.
"A couple of weeks ago, Marie asked me to go grab some coffee with her and let me know she's currently pregnant and will soon get married. To be honest, this got me off guard since I didn't even know she had a boyfriend. She apparently will have quite a fast wedding since she doesn't want her baby bump to show too much, meaning her wedding will be in three months.
"She says it'll be a small ceremony and asked me to walk her down the aisle. I felt weird about it since I don't even know her fiancé and it was all so sudden, so I asked her to let me think about it. It seemed like this answer surprised her but she understood."
The dad then said he spoke to his wife and Julie about what he should do, and was encouraged to turn Marie down because Julie had "asked first" and wanted to be "the first to be walked down the aisle".
So he sent a text to Marie telling her he wouldn't be walking her down the aisle, but she branded him a "horrible father".
He added: "I then went home and let my wife and daughter know, and Julie asked me to please decline. She wanted to be the first to be walked down the aisle and since she asked first, thinks that I have a stronger commitment to her. I agreed since this is more of an 'Us' thing rather than an after-thought like Marie's wedding.
"I then sent a message to Marie letting her know of my decision with a brief explanation, and even offered options like getting her mum or step-dad to walk with her. I also reassured her that I'd still be with her there and support her with anything.
"She almost immediately called me crying and telling me how much of a horrible father I am, and how I apparently have always played favourites, which hurt me since it's simply not true, I love them both. I tried to explain my reasoning but she said it doesn't matter and doesn't care about my excuses."
Reddit commenters were quick to slam the dad for bending to Julie's "ridiculous" request, and urged him to see what he was doing to his eldest daughter.
One person said: "You should be walking them both down the aisle instead of just picking one over the other. Julie wanting to be the first to be walked down the aisle is frankly a ridiculous request."
While another added: "You are, quite obviously, playing favourites."
The dad later returned to the post to admit he was wrong, and said he was planning to reach out to Marie to apologise.
He said: "These comments have really opened my eyes to how horrible I was to my daughter. I feel like I've been oblivious to several things I did and allowed to happen. I'll try to reach out to her but after reading your opinions, I doubt she'll accept and I'd totally get it."
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