Yahoo Lifestyle Father and Daughter Bring Her Wedding Guests to Tears After Recreating 24-Year-Old Dance from Her Childhood (Exclusive)
Kelsey Phinney Goggins got married on June 1 in Charlottesville, Virginia
Kelsey Phinney Goggins had envisioned her father-daughter wedding dance long before she got engaged.
The idea began about 10 years ago when Kelsey, a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and her father, Dave, came across old VHS tapes from father-daughter dance classes they attended together during her time as a competitive dancer.
Upon rediscovering the videos, Kelsey immediately thought about recreating one of their old dances for her future wedding. She shared the idea with her dad, who replied, "Sure, when the time comes, we'll talk about it."
In October 2022, when Kelsey finally got engaged to Patrick Goggins, she wasted no time reminding her dad about their dance plans.
"Alright Dad, it's time to learn the dance again," she told him. "And he was like, 'Wait, you were serious about that?' " Kelsey, now 31, tells PEOPLE.
After five months of practice, on June 1, the duo brought their iconic moves back to the dance floor at Kelsey's wedding in Charlottesville, Virginia.
"We turned it into a little father-daughter outing where we would practice after work, then go get dinner together and catch up. It was really nice," the newlywed says.
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Their four-and-a-half-minute dance featured a traditional start to "Best Parts of Me" by Will Dempsey, which then transitioned into a record scratch moment with "Let's Hear It for the Boy" from Footloose, moving into their choreographed dance from over 24 years ago.
Meanwhile, behind them, a projector played video clips from Kelsey's childhood along with the old VHS tapes from their dance class.
"A lot of people ask me, 'How did you hold it together during that? How'd you not just break down crying?' And I think it's because we practiced a lot. On the day of the event, once the music started, we got out there and did it," Dave, 58, says.
"The cheers from the crowd loosened me up, and we just had fun. That's how I held it together," he says.
Despite trying to keep it a surprise, they were so excited about it that most of their guests found out it was happening beforehand. Kelsey says she told a few of her friends so they would get up and cheer her and her dad on during the dance.
In addition to her friends, she also informed Lauren Ladouceur, her wedding content creator, who filmed the special moment and posted it on TikTok. Since then, the video has gone viral, garnering over 1.3 million views.
"You could see Kelsey and Dave’s bond and love for each other in person, and it jumped off the screen in the video," Ladouceur says.
"The fact that Kelsey and Patrick were getting married almost 24 years to the date of the original dance recital video, with Father’s Day approaching – there were so many special layers," she adds. "There wasn’t a dry eye in the reception venue afterward."
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Reflecting on the moment, Dave says he never imagined he could get up and dance in front of a crowd so many years later. But now, he's grateful he did.
"Get involved in your kids' lives," Dave says. "If an opportunity like this comes up, you've got to take it. It's not my thing to be out there dancing in front of people, but you have to do it because it's true what they say: They grow up so fast."
"I've always known that my dad is amazing, but it's been so great to see everyone else recognizing how amazing of a dad he is too," Kelsey adds.
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