father’s day 2021 | fredericksburg, va
There are several times throughout a wedding day where I find myself trying to take pictures through watery eyes. I’ll quickly wipe the tears from my cheeks, or hope the guests think it’s just the sun catching my eyes. It’s usually when the groom sees his bride for the first time, or during the bride’s first look with her soon-to-be husband.
But, the part of a wedding day that ALWAYS gets to me the most, is the father/daughter dance.
It’s crazy how much more this dance started to mean to me after having a daughter. Every morning when our daughter, Rae, wakes up the first thing she says is “DaDa”. She will say it over and over until her Dad walks in the room. As soon as he does, she goes wild! She giggles and laughs, reaches her tiny arms up, and waits for him to pick her up out of her crib.
If Alex walks out of the room, immediately her hands shrug up as she asks (in her own baby way) “where’s dada”. She wants him with her all the time, and even when he leaves the room she knows he can’t be far away. He tucks her in every night, kisses her good morning every day, and ALWAYS looks for her as soon as he’s done with work.
As I continuously watch these dad’s hand their daughter away to her now husband, I can’t help but picture Alex doing the same for Rae. I’ve seen the strongest and biggest of men break down and cry as they pass their daughters hand to the man who is now in charge of protecting her.
It doesn’t matter how old they get. A dad will always be there for his daughter. My girls are lucky to have the best dad in the world, and as we spend today honoring him, I couldn’t help but share with you some of the amazing dad’s we’ve been able to meet this past year.
Happy Father’s Day to ALL the amazing dad’s out there!
And out of all these dad’s, I can’t help but give a shout out to Alex. I couldn’t have handpicked a better dad for my babies if I tried.
