Dancing Down the Aisle - Boundless Bliss

Dancing down the aisle is just what I did on 20OCT2018. I danced down the aisle in memory of my Dad and so I didn’t cry the entire way. I lost my Dad 4 years ago and was to date the hardest moment in life. My Dad was my rock, the lemon to my lemonade, because when there were lemons he always knew how to make lemonade for me. My Dad was and is one of the best men to walk. I am not just saying that from the selfish point of being his child, I am saying that from the point of him being the kindest and most giving soul to everyone.

My Inspiration

Ever since I was a little girl I dreamt of getting married. Wearing that white dress, walking down the aisle with my Dad at my side. My Dad dreamt of the same thing. How do I know this? One day during sophomore year of college at UW Madison, my Dad and I were driving back to my aunt/godmothers house, who I lived with at the time. Someone we knew planned on having a wedding, but then didn’t end up having one due to family drama. My Dad and I were discussing this situation and I blatantly remember my Dad saying,” Jessica you have to promise me you are going to have a wedding, a large wedding.”

My Dad passed way to early and way to young 4 years ago. One of the thoughts I had within the first 24 hours, while I was still in shock, was my Dad can’t walk me down the aisle. Some of you make think this was/is a selfish thought, but for me it wasn’t. My Dad dreamed of this moment, he worked very very hard everyday to provide this best life for his wife and his daughters, one of them being me. He dreamt of physically walking his girls down the aisle.

Proposal

When Jake proposed I was on cloud nine. I knew I wanted to marry Jake for awhile. He is my Dad if there was ever a match. He has quite a few of the same mannerisms, and before Jake knew my Dad he said so many phrases my Dad said his whole life, spot on.

Ever since the time of proposal, and even before I knew I was going to walk down the aisle myself. My Dad raised me to be a strong independent woman and this is just what I planned on being my wedding day. No one could ever take his spot, not in a million years, not even if they tried. It would be me, walking down the aisle with him walking beside me, just no one could see.

Wedding Planning

A couple months into wedding planning I decided instead of walking, I was going to dance down the aisle. I thought it would be a fun way to remember my Dad and all of his greatness.

I created a mashup of the songs that reminded me of my Dad. At first I tried to create this mashup myself, but this is not my expertise, so you can guess how that went. I then talked to the DJ I had already hired for our wedding, Rex at Discosapien, and he said this sort of thing was right up his alley. He said he had never had a request for a bride to create a mashup dance in memory of her Dad down the aisle, but would love to help me.

I went in studio 3 times. Our DJ and I worked on my mashup, recorded my voice and just had fun. He was an absolute pleasure to work with and I would highly recommend him to any Colorado brides.

Choreography

Let’s face it. I didn’t major in dance or coreography during college, but I absolutely LOVE to dance. I searched pinterest, google searched, you name it, I searched it. How was I going to dance down the aisle in my wedding dress? It would be hard enough dancing down the aisle in normal clothes. Thankfully, I had already decided my bridesmaids and I were going to wear Kate Spade sparkly keds. This helped the coreography tremendously.

After countless hours of searching and semi practicing I had a base. I practiced the base moves all the time. My fiancé/ now husband had no idea. How? I tend to be that wife that dances her stress out, so whenever he would catch me with headphones and our charcoal lab, Duke, jumping with me, I would just say we were dancing it out. Secretly I was practicing.

I practiced the larger moves/concept months out, however the small details weren’t in place until a week and a half to a week prior to our wedding. I work best under pressure, and when I have an extremely full workload and this is what I did.

Some of you may question now, Jessica, did you have the full thing planned out/did you make any changes? I had the base steps down you see and I placed a bit of improv along the way. Why not?

Songs

Dance Inspiration

Only the Good Die Young (Billy Joel): My Dad passed away at 52 years old. VERY YOUNG. This one is a remembrance to me that “only the good die young.” My Dad had a soft heart for his girls and was the best man a girl/daughter could have ever dreamt for. He died way too young. ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen): My sister and I have vivid memories of my Dad singing this song.
Paradise by the Dashboard Moonlight (Meatloaf): I remember this being a fun family song we grew up. My Dad loved Meatloaf.
Put Another Log on the Fire (Roger Alan Wade): My Dad always sang this song around the campfire up at the lake house, and occasionally at our childhood home when we would have a fire. He even randomly sang this song sometimes. We played this song at my Dads funeral and all sang along to it. It’s an extremely touching song for me.
Cake (Flo Rida): My Dad was not alive on earth during this songs release, but this song reminds me of him. My Dad had the biggest sweet tooth ever, which is where I get mine from. This song goes on to say “I only came for the cake.” Yup, clearly a someone with a sweet tooth came up with that.
It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me (Billy Joel): My Dad loved Billy Joel. This is one of many songs I remember listening to growing up.
L-O-V-E (Nat King Cole): This song was for my fiancé/ husband. I had to tie him in there and what better way than to spell out love.

Dance Inspiration

Only the Good Die Young (Billy Joel): I included my voice in this song, saying, “here’s to you Dad.” The dance inspiration for this song came by placing my bride bouquet to the heavens to reach for Dad.
Fat Bottomed Girls (Queen): Who doesn’t love the good ole sprinkler move. I added on to this move a little to incorporate my my husband.
Paradise by the Dashboard Moonlight (Meatloaf): This dance was inspired by the Pas de Bouree.
Put Another Log on the Fire (Roger Alan Wade): This section of the dance was about the country line dance.
Cake (Flo Rida): I did the “floss.” It may not have been the best performance of it, but hey, may be can call it the “adult floss?”
It’s still Rock and Roll to Me (Billy Joel): I thought about swing dance, but you really need 2 people. I channeled my inner twist with leg kicks for this portion.
L-O-V-E (Nat King Cole): This dance was inspired by my hips and spelling out LOVE to my fiancé and now husband. I had to incorporate him into the dance, after all, it’s him that I married.

Best Part

No one knew! I didn’t tell anyone minus 1 or 2 to help me cover during DJ mashup and dance practice, but it was a secret. My mom didn’t know, my husband didn’t know, no one knew. Of course our vendors knew to make this happen. I can’t thank Rex at “Discosapien,” and Boulder Media Company for making this “dance” down the aisle possible and documented.