Help you down the aisle I must: The day Yoda empowered a flower girl with autism

Photo by Kristy Angove

The wedding was held in a small country church. The bride was resplendent in a blue 1940s gown, and her three daughters were flower girls in floral circlets and big pretty dresses and — what the wha — is that Yoda over on the left there, photobombing that lovely family photo?

Offbeat Bride reader, Ms Tara, recently went to a friend's wedding and noticed that one of the flower girls had a strange little green Jedi friend escort her down the aisle, in the form of an awesome backpack. Unable to resist asking how Yoda crashed the wedding, Ms Tara found out during the reception:

T, the flower girl, had spent the morning hiding under the bed. She has autism, and the prospect of an event with all those people was pretty daunting. T's aunty finally coaxed her out from under the bed with the promise of a Yoda backpack.

This is one amazing Yoda backpack.

Her aunt took her to the toy shop, and from that moment on Yoda sat on her shoulder and she seemed to feel safe with him there.

When it came time to put on the dress and head to the church T flat refused to go without Yoda on her shoulder. Her mother, the bride, said to her family "If Yoda helps T get to the church and walk down that aisle with all those people watching, then Yoda is coming!"

And the result was one of the best images of a flower girl that has EVER been taken in the history of weddings:

Screenshot courtesy of 20th Century Fox.

Oh wait, sorry… this:

Photo by Kristy Angove

It's no battle training on Dagobah, but weddings can (sometimes) be just as stressful and overwhelming. So cheers to the bride for letting Yoda coach this young padawan through her wedding duties!