Bride Allows Her Parents To Have Their First Dance At Her Wedding After They Eloped 25 Years Ago
It's never too late to celebrate a marriage, even a quarter of a century later.
@debloemcoe / TikTok After 25 years of marriage, one California couple finally had the opportunity to have their first dance after their daughter opened the floor to them at her own wedding reception.
The happy couple embraced each other as they enjoyed their long-awaited moment, and there was hardly a dry eye in the venue.
The couple eloped when they were 18 years old and never got the chance to have a wedding ceremony or a first dance.
Jaque Ford met her husband, Chris, when they were just 15 years old. After three years of dating, the two decided to tie the knot in 1998, unbeknownst to the rest of the world. Therefore, they never had a wedding ceremony or a first wedding dance as a married couple.
Nearly 25 years later, their eldest daughter, Zoe, got married to the love of her life, Ezra, at an outdoor ceremony in front of her friends and family.
Their daughter allowed them the chance to have their first dance at their own wedding.
During the reception, not only did Zoe get to have her first dance as a married woman with her husband, but she also decided to surprise her parents by offering them the opportunity to have the first dance that they never got. The moment was captured in a TikTok video and has since received over 5 million views.
Photo: TikTok / @debloemco
“As some of you may or may not know, my parents ran away when they were 18 and got married in secret,” Zoe shared with her wedding guests. “They never got their own first dance. So we would like to give that to you guys as a thank you for always being there for us and supporting us.”
Jaque and Chris were clearly caught off guard by their daughter’s offer, with tears welling up in Jaque’e eyes as she and her husband made their way to the dancefloor. “This one’s for you, Mom and Dad!” Zoe said.
A photo montage of the couple’s first dance was depicted in the video, with Ellie Goulding's version of the song “Your Song” by Elton John playing in the background.
Other users were overwhelmed by the emotional moment.
“The way he still looks at his wife. What a selfless act of love and a great gift you gave to your mom and dad,” one user commented on Zoe. “What an incredibly special and thoughtful moment. Your parents are gorgeous!” another user wrote.
In a follow-up video, Jaque gave viewers more of a backstory of how she and her husband Chris eloped when they were 18.
“We got together when we were 15 and married right after high school,” she said. “He joined the Air Force and became a firefighter.” The couple later welcomed two daughters, Zoe and Nevaeh, and a son, Raven.
While Jaque told Insider that she and Chris renewed their vows in 2017 at Israel’s Sea of Galilee, they never had a wedding ceremony in front of close friends and family.
"We were like, 'We don't need a wedding,'” she said. “But to have that moment Zoe gave to us... that fulfilled me in a way that I didn't even know I wanted or needed. It was a beautiful moment to have with him."
Today, Chris currently serves as a fire Captain at Camp Pendleton, and Jaque is an event florist.
While their daughter’s wedding day was memorable for many reasons as parents, it was made all the more special since they finally had the chance to hold onto one another and dance to commemorate what should have been celebrated a quarter of a century ago.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.