Dad promised to pick 'father-daughter' dance song, but played a childhood voicemail instead

Wedding videographers Benji & Miriam (@_salarmedia) shared a father-daughter dance on Instagram that turned into one of the most emotional moments of the night. In the video that has gained 1.2 million views and over 91,000 likes, the bride, Haley, thought she was stepping into the traditional father-daughter dance. What she didn’t know was that her dad had been planning something unforgettable for months. As the duo was dancing to a song, the father stopped it midway, smiled at his daughter, and said, "I mean, it's a great song, but I don't know, for me, it doesn't really do it as a daddy-daughter dance. The next song might be a little more appropriate."

What happened next left Haley in tears — instead of another tune, the speakers filled with the sound of her childhood, and real voicemails from little Haley began to play. In one recording, her young voice said, "Hi Daddy, it's Haley. I want to know when you will be home. So give me a call back as soon as you can, love Haley, bye." The crowd gasped as Alan Jackson's "Remember When" began to play, woven in with more voicemails her dad had saved over the years. Haley held onto him, sobbing as the dance floor filled with the memories of her childhood.

The surprise didn't end there — at the close of the song, another message played, this time from her grandfather. "Hey, just checking to see what's going on. Talk to you later, bye-bye," he said. By then, Haley’s tears were streaming, and so were everyone else’s. @_salarmedia captioned the video, "Watching this made us tear up so bad and pray we have girls one day." A study by Jennifer Byrd-Craven et al., trying to determine the effect of father-daughter relationships on stress response, cortisol, and the adolescent nervous system, found "negatively perceived aspects of the father-daughter relationship was predictive of morning cortisol levels." Meaning, those with a negative 'image' of their father woke up significantly more stressed. The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis controls the body's response to stress, and this was the first study to "demonstrate long term associations between paternal relationship quality and routine functioning of the HPA axis." This indicates that our relationships at home largely dictate how we function as people.

The viewers were left equally emotional by the heartfelt moment and flooded the comment section with nothing but words of awe. @mrs_wombat40 commented, "I simply can't fathom having a dad who not only loves you THIS much but also kept those voicemails ALL that time! To know your father has never walked out of your life and loves you SOOOO much must be such a true blessing. It's soooo beautiful." @kelsiekristine wrote, "Bawling because I just had my dad's 25th death anniversary and would've killed for this moment. This is so special." @burchetttj said, "Damn you. I gave my oldest daughter away in May, and this was perfect. Now, I'm in a hotel on a work trip and tearing up. Great job, though!"

@lifeisblyss wrote, "This is absolutely beautiful. Watching this and thinking about my daughter and husband dancing together at her future wedding — she's 3 lmao." @emily_bozeman95 wrote, "The way I did not think I was going to cry, and then started sobbing in the first message." @rajsinghphotography_au chimed in, "As a videographer and a girl's dad, I wouldn't have been able to stay composed." @loganmariephotog shared, "How did they hold it together!?! I’m sitting here BAWLING MY EYES OUT for two total strangers!?!"

You can follow Benji & Miriam (@_salarmedia) on Instagram for more wedding content.

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