Couple makes venue change to Northridge hospital so father of the bride who suffered a stroke can attend

Though weddings are usually all about the bridge and groom, one couple in Northridge made a drastic change to make sure that one of their beloved family members could attend the ceremony after a sudden medical emergency. 

Maricela Mercado's father Salvador has been hospitalized for weeks since suffering a stroke just before Thanksgiving. She knows that it's every father's honor to walk his daughter down the aisle, so she made the necessary changes to ensure that they could share that moment.

They got to do just that on Saturday, when he gave her away during her wedding at the chapel at Dignity Health Medical Center in Northridge. 

"He's been such a hard worker. He's been through so much, he seems invincible to me," Mercado said. "I knew it was very important that he be here, that my family was here."

She and her new husband, Ralph Polk, both knew that they couldn't waste any more time, so they moved their wedding date up from June 2025 to the unusual venue. They, along with the groom's family, flew in from San Antonio, Texas, so that they should all share the moment together. 

"He says he's just thankful to God for the family he's been given," Salvador Rivera, the father of the bride said through a translator. 

Though he's not able to attend the reception being held at his home on Saturday evening, family members believe that he'll be back with them very soon. 

"He's recovering slowly, and we have faith that he will pull through and be back to his garden and his dog and my mom," Mercado said. 

Hospital officials say that typically they use the chapel for Sunday sermons and that this may be the first ever wedding held there.