Father of Bride Surprises Daughter by Singing Song Instead of Giving Speech at Wedding: See the Performance! (Exclusive)

• Filipino composer and musical director Louie Ocampo "has always expressed himself best through music rather than words," so he decided to perform an original song at his daughter's wedding on Jan. 17 instead of giving a traditional speech

• "Baby Steps Through Time" was composed by Louie, with its lyrics written by the bride's godmother, Cecilia Buenaventura Mañosa

• "I was completely overwhelmed with emotion," the bride, Bertie Ocampo, tells PEOPLE. "...It took me right back to my childhood — hearing him play the piano for hours, filling our home with music. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to have a father like him."

A bride couldn't contain her happy tears when her father performed a heartfelt song for her.

Bertie Ocampo was sitting next to her new husband, Ricky Huang, at their wedding reception on Jan. 17 in Manila, Philippines when her father, Louie Ocampo, positioned himself at a keyboard at the end of the dance floor. Instead of giving a traditional speech, the father of the bride decided to perform a special song.

"My dad said on our wedding day, 'I'm a man of few words and I make my music do the rest,' " Bertie wrote in an on-screen caption of a recording of the performance shared on TikTok. "So instead of just a traditional speech, my dad wrote me a song with lyrics by my godmother."

She continued, "Fair warning: Have some tissues next to you 😅."

The original song, "Baby Steps Through Time," was composed by Louie, with its lyrics written by Bertie's godmother, Cecilia Buenaventura Mañosa.

"There wasn’t a dry eye in the room," Bertie tells PEOPLE of the performance. "Every guest I spoke to told me they were either close to tears or outright crying. You could feel the love and emotion in the air."

After Louie softly started playing the keyboard and reading his sheet music, he took hold of a microphone and began his tearjerking song.

"All her life I've watched this little girl / Held her hand to twirl / Till she danced on her own and now, off to start her new life / My funny girl, grown up woman now a wife," Louie began.

Behind Louie was a large screen playing Bertie's live reaction to his song. She quickly became visibly emotional, as she began crying and quivering her lips.

"I was completely overwhelmed with emotion," she recalls to PEOPLE. "My dad had already been tearing up since 9 a.m. on the day of the wedding, so this performance felt like the pinnacle of an incredibly sentimental day. It took me right back to my childhood — hearing him play the piano for hours, filling our home with music. I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to have a father like him."

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"Where did all that time go? / Baby steps I watched her take her hand in mine I held on too / Now it's time to let her go again this bittersweet embrace sweet memories," Louie sang. "You'll always be mine / Till I take my own baby steps through time."

"All my life I knew this day could come / When I'd pray for her / Find her path and find her only one / To see her face light up for someone new but for now I hold her close," continued Louie, who is a celebrated composer and musical director in the Philippines. As a graduate of Berklee College of Music, Louie "has always expressed himself best through music rather than words," according to his daughter.

"Where did all that time go? / Baby steps I watched her take her hand in mine I held on too / Once again I have to let go of our sweet embrace / Please take our memories / When you were still mine / While I take my own baby steps through time," he concluded.

Afterward, wedding guests applauded as Louie stood up and cheered, "Oh, I made it!" He then walked over to Bertie, who met him in the middle of the ballroom for an emotional hug.

"As a single parent who had just watched my own daughter get married the year before, I could completely relate to the moment," says Bertie's godmother, who was in the audience. "Louie made my daughter’s wedding extra special by playing at her ceremony, so I was more than happy to return the favor in my own way."

A year before the big day, Bertie asked her father if he could compose the song she'd walk down the aisle to, but he responded that he’d rather surprise her with "something special" at the reception.

"So I knew he planned to perform, but I had no idea what to expect," Bertie says. "I didn’t realize how deeply personal and emotional it would be — or that my godmother would be part of the songwriting process!"

Flash forward to a month before the wedding and Louie began "playing around with different melodies."

"I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to take. I set them aside and finally sat down on Jan. 2, thinking it would be a great way to start the year with a new song," Louie tells PEOPLE. "By 2 p.m., I began composing, and finished the melody in time for my happy hour cocktail."

Simultaneously, Bertie’s sister encouraged Mañosa to write the lyrics if Louie were to compose a song.

"Two weeks before the wedding, I shared a poem I had written for Bertie with Louie — only to find out he had been composing a tune as well!" Bertie's godmother says. "Coincidentally, my poem matched the theme he had in mind. Given how close I am to Bertie, her siblings, and their parents, writing the lyrics came naturally."

"From the moment they finalized the melody to completing the lyrics, it only took them two days to bring the song to life," Bertie adds.

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On TikTok, Bertie wrote in the caption: "Not a dry eye in the house 🥲 Please excuse the ugly crying! Love you so much dad ❤️."

In the comments section, TikTokers gushed over the sweet performance. Many users also requested that Louie release the song because it would be the "perfect father-daughter dance."

"You're so lucky🥺❤️❤️," one person commented, with someone else writing, "THE SWEETEST DAD 😭😭🩷."

Later in the night at the wedding, Bertie and Louie had a sweet father-daughter dance followed by a full family dance.

Read the original article on People