Weddings are the ideal opportunity to gather all your loved ones and special friends together for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Often, it’s one of the few times that family members get the chance to party together and celebrate the happy couple.
But for some bride and grooms-to-be it can often be a reminder of the loved ones they are missing.
For one bride-to-be her excitement turned to sadness when she realized her beloved father would not live to walk her down the aisle and share a daddy-daughter dance.
Becky Carey’s father US Air Force Colonel Timothy Carey had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate and pancreatic cancers back in 2014.
He spent years fighting the cruel disease until his body was no longer strong enough and he was put into hospice care.
It was at that point that reality struck Becky, an elementary school teacher, and her husband-to-be Matt when they realized Timothy wouldn’t be able to attend their wedding.
That’s when Becky made the decision to cancel her engagement photo shoot and instead have one with her father.
The two gathered in the family’s backyard, Becky wearing her wedding dress and her father in his Air Force uniform, to create their own father-daughter wedding reception dance.
As they danced to Timothy’s favorite song “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers, neither of them could hold back the tears.
“He started crying, so of course I started crying,” she told InsideEdition.com. “It was sad,” she said. “But it was also beautiful.
“I had been in chosen denial about how sick he was,” Becky added.
As the Virginia bride-to-be danced with her 70-year-old Air Force colonel dad, she whispered in his ear, “This is just practice and just for fun.”
The end result is a beautiful video and montage of precious moments with her father, a brave and heroic man who lost his battle to cancer in March.
“He fought cancer harder than anyone. He should have died at least seven times prior. I know he was holding on for me,” Becky said, according to Shareably.
See the stunning and moving photographs taken by wedding photographer Bonnie Turner in the video below.
Coming together for a recreation of her actual wedding day, knowing what lies ahead was so brave of this father and daughter.
I’m sure Becky’s wedding day was bittersweet but I’m thankful she had those special pictures and memories of her father.
Please share if you were moved by this family’s beautiful story.
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