By all measures, May Smith was the perfect bridesmaid. She wore a blue bowtie in her hair to match the wedding’s denim theme, donated generously to the stag and doe and, when the big day arrived, drank celebratory shots in a party bus with the rest of the wedding party.
But, while other bridesmaids tossed back tequila, Smith opted for ice wine. After all, she is 92 years old.
“Out of everyone in the wedding, she was the best of my bridesmaids,” bride Amanda Scott told CTVNews.ca. “She’s done it a billion times, maybe that’s why.”
Picking your grandmother to be a bridesmaid might seem like an unconventional choice. But Scott said she wanted a non-traditional wedding party that reflected the strong bond with the woman she calls “granny.”
“She’s just kind of a breath of fresh air in my life. She’s just my best friend. I tell her everything,” Scott explained.
Scott said her grandmother is a remarkable person who leads a surprisingly active lifestyle for someone her age. She swims a mile each week at the local pool, line dances, goes golfing in the summer (without a golf cart, unless it’s sweltering) and volunteers for Meals on Wheels.
“She really is just my inspiration. She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met,” Scott said. “I want to be just like her.”
The decision to make her granny a bridesmaid was an easy one. Scott lives in St. Catharines, Ont. and visits her grandmother in Niagara Falls, Ont. about once a week. The pair talk about life and family and often make dinner together. Despite their strong bond, Scott and Smith aren’t biologically related.
“She’s not my biological grandmother. She is my step-grandmother. So I don’t really believe in the whole (idea of) family is blood,” Scott said.
“She’s getting to an age where I think, how much longer she might be here? I thought, how special would it be if this could be something she does at this stage. I mean, how many women get to be a bridesmaid at 92?”
About a year before her wedding, Scott decided to pop the question. She told her granny that she wanted someone special to be her bridesmaid, and asked if she’d take the job.
“She cried and said she would love to. And basically, for the whole next year, she told everybody that she came in contact with that she was going to be a bridesmaid in July. She’d say, ‘You ever hear of a 92-year-old bridesmaid?’” Scott said.
“Before the wedding she was reminiscing about being a bridesmaid when she was younger. You could tell it was something that was special for her.”
When the wedding day arrived, Scott said her grandmother fit right in. She wore cowboy boots, just like the other two bridesmaids, and joined in during a photoshoot by a waterfall in St. Catharines.
“I’ve never seen her look so beautiful in my life. I couldn’t believe how beautiful she looked,” Scott said.
She later posted a photo of their shared moment on Reddit, where the post garnered plenty of attention.
Scott said she’s thrilled her grandmother got to play such a pivotal role in her special day.
“It was kind of nice to do something that was not just unusual, but special for the two of us,” she said.
