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At the time of writing this blog, my firstborn daughter, Ashely, is 22 years old. I remember quite vividly—like a movie that plays in my head—the moment she took her first breath. I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement at becoming a father for the first time, but also by how beautiful she was.
Without getting too personal, the first 48 hours of my daughter’s life were at risk. She was plucked from my arms as I held her in the delivery room and rushed to Children’s Hospital, where she spent at least a week in an incubator, hooked up to monitors to ensure she was safe before her mother and I could take her home. It was an incredibly scary and emotional time for me, my wife, and my family, to say the least.
Praise God, she was okay and soon after joined us at home!
Over the years, my daughter and I developed a very special bond—one that only a father and his little girl can truly understand. If you are or have been the father of a daughter, you know how special that relationship is. From bath time to bedtime stories, singing at night, cuddling on the couch, and hours of swinging and playing at the playground—those moments are priceless. When she was young, I fed her and protected not just her body, but also her heart. I laughed with her when we were being silly, and I held her when she cried because her kitty had died.
Fast forward to today—she’s a grown woman with a career, and I am so very proud of her! I am now her friend, her confidant, her mentor, and her spiritual leader, but I am still her dad. We still laugh and cry together. We still share all the special things of the heart that only girls and their dads share. Having this incredible woman in my life is a blessing, and I thank God for her!
Here’s a handful of recent memories with my little girl that I cherish…
With all of that as a backdrop, now understand when I tell you that I have been to over 500 weddings and have watched countless fathers dance with their little girls on the very last day he is the number one man in her life. It never fails to stir deep emotions within me. Sometimes, it’s just a lump in my throat, but other times, the moment has brought me to tears as I picture myself someday dancing with my own daughter at her wedding. There is truly no other feeling in the world like it.
The father-daughter dance is a very special part of the wedding day, and I look forward to it every single time. From fast-moving, joyful, and exciting performances they clearly rehearsed together, to just a quiet, intimate moment between a woman and her father—where it seems they don’t even notice anyone else is in the room—it’s always a beautiful sight to witness and document.
Here are just a few of my favorite moments between a bride and her dad on the dance floor.
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Brian photographs weddings and events in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, the Monterey and Carmel Peninsula, Wine Country including Sonoma County and the Napa Valley, the East Bay, San Jose, Sacramento, Lake Tahoe and wedding destinations worldwide.