15 men accompanied Ivy Jacobsen down the aisle when she married her fiancé Tristen in Washington state. Jacobsen had selected 15 men who played an important role in her life: including her brother, her stepbrother, her uncle – and a policeman.
However, who was not among the male companions: her father. Jacobsen’s father has been in prison for several years for sexually abusing his daughter during her childhood. It was Ivy Jacobsen herself who, at the age of 16, had the courage to tell the truth to the police and later to testify against him in court. She was instrumental in her father’s arrest and conviction. And because her father could not and should not lead her to the altar, the policeman who arrested him at the time took his place among the 15 men.
Your wedding planner filmed the bride’s entry under a bright blue sky and published the video on TikTok, where it touched many users. The clip has already been viewed more than twelve million times.
Jacobsen is now a police officer herself, and her husband also works for the police. On her Instagram account, she explained why she chose 15 men to lead her down the aisle: “I wanted to give them this honor for the sacrifices they made for a child that was not their own. Without them, I would not be I ended up on the street.” Her experiences made her want to become a police officer herself: “We all have a story that shapes us, but it doesn’t define us.”
Her father manipulated and controlled her during her childhood and adolescence: in addition to sexual abuse, he determined what she was allowed to wear or which numbers she was allowed to save on her cell phone. According to her own statement, her mother, who is separated from her father, knew nothing about the abuse, and the father forbade contact as far as possible. In 2013 he was sentenced to 16 years in prison – also because his daughter testified against him three times in court.
Sources: Karrah Creative Events on TikTok / Ivy Jacobsen on Instagram / KUOW
