Wedding Blog

For my father-daughter dance, I chose What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and Mr. Bee chose You are the Sunshine of My Life by Stevie Wonder for his mother-son dance. Amid the chaos of the days before the wedding, I decided that having a father-daughter, and mother-son dance back to back was too much - your guests don’t want to sit there and watch you dance for 7-8 minutes straight. So we decided to skip the separate mothr-son dance and just have the four of us dance to What a Wonderful World together.

I had an idea recently (which is what I should have done for my own wedding.) I could have had our band play abridged versions of the two songs so that we could have had separate father-daughter, mother-son dances. Maybe a minute and a half for each song. You could even have your dj play abridged versions. Alas. Everything is so clear in retrospect.

****

A friend of mine recently introduced me to Luther Vandross’ Dance with my Father. The song is actually about missing a father that’s passed away but it’s such a beautiful song! It’s perfect as a tribute to a deceased father. If a mother and daughter danced to this song at a wedding, I swear I would just begin bawling on the spot.

Dance with my Father - Luther Vandross

Back when I was a child, before life removed all the innocence
My father would lift me high and dance with my mother and me and then
Spin me around ’til I fell asleep
Then up the stairs he would carry me
And I knew for sure I was loved
If I could get another chance, another walk, another dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end

How I’d love, love, love
To dance with my father again
When I and my mother would disagree
To get my way, I would run from her to him
He’d make me laugh just to comfort me
Then finally make me do just what my mama said
Later that night when I was asleep
He left a dollar under my sheet
Never dreamed that he would be gone from me
If I could steal one final glance, one final step, one final dance with him
I’d play a song that would never, ever end

‘Cause I’d love, love, love
To dance with my father again
Sometimes I’d listen outside her door
And I’d hear how my mother cried for him
I pray for her even more than me
I pray for her even more than me
I know I’m praying for much too much
But could you send back the only man she loved
I know you don’t do it usually
But dear Lord she’s dying
To dance with my father again
Every night I fall asleep and this is all I ever dream