Bride walked down the aisle by man who has her father's heart

Even though Jeni Stepien's father couldn't be at her wedding, his heart was.

After her dad, Michael, was tragically murdered in 2006 his heart was donated to Arthur "Tom" Thomas. The gesture saved Thomas' life. Ten years later, Thomas met the Stepien family so he could walk the grateful bride down the aisle.

Stepien and her family have been in touch with Thomas ever since he received her father's heart, but they didn't meet in person until the day before her wedding, after she asked Tom to walk her down the aisle in a letter.

Emotions ran high when Stepien's family and a group of reporters watched her listen to Thomas' heartbeat.

"I’m so excited. The whole family is here now. It’s like everybody is here," she told KDKA through happy tears after meeting Thomas.

“It’s just like having my dad here and better because we get to share this story with people and other people see that organ donors do matter."

Now that Stepien has seen the power of organ donation firsthand, she is strongly advocating for it.

Stepien told her Facebook friends that her wedding day was the best of her entire life -- not only because she married her husband, but also because having Tom there was like having her father there.

"I was just so thankful that my dad could be here with us today in spirit and in a piece of his physical being as well," the bride said at her wedding. "That was really, really special for us."

Mashable has reached out to Jeni Stepien for comment and will update this story if she responds.