Bride-To-Be Swapped Engagement Photoshoot for Photos with Terminally Ill Dad

Bride-to-be ditches her engagement photo shoot and stages a moving wedding dance with her terminally ill father months ahead of her wedding "just in case."

For some brides, an engagement photo shoot is a must, but for one bride-to-be, a photoshoot with her terminally ill father trumps that.

HER FATHER'S ABSENCE IN HER WEDDING WAS NOT AN OPTION

Becky Carey wanted to make sure her father was going to be in her wedding despite the threat to his life due to his illness. U.S. Air Force Colonel Timothy Carey was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2014 so it was uncertain if he would make it to his daughter’s September 2019 wedding date.

To prepare for the possibility of her father not making it to her wedding, Becky had an idea. In lieu of her engagement photo shoot with her fiancé, Matt, she decided to stage a father-daughter wedding dance and document it in photos.

“It was sad but it was also beautiful.”

JUST PRACTICE

On October 14, 2018, Becky wore her wedding dress, styled her hair and put on makeup while her father donned his Air Force uniform. In their backyard, father and daughter danced to Timothy’s favorite song, “Unchained Melody” as a hired photographer and a videographer captured the priceless moment.

“He fought cancer harder than anyone. He should have died at least seven times prior. I know he was holding on for me.”

Becky described the scene to Inside Edition as her “just in case” dance and even whispered to her 70-year-old father while they were dancing that it was “just practice” and “for fun.”Becky recalled the two of them crying but she had no regrets.

“It was sad but it was also beautiful,” she said.

IN MEMORY OF HER FATHER

Timothy died months later on March 29, but still months away from his daughter’s wedding day. It’s a good thing Becky has the video of their dance which she intends to show during her wedding in September.

Becky was grateful that her father held on long enough to be able to share a dance with her. She told the news outlet,

“He fought cancer harder than anyone. He should have died at least seven times prior. I know he was holding on for me.”

BRIDE'S SICK FATHER WALKS HER DOWN THE HOSPITAL AISLE

Becky’s efforts to include her father in her wedding reminds us of Vieneese Rolan who moved her wedding day earlier and held it in the hospital so her dying father could walk her down the aisle.

Vieneese worked with the hospital team of the University of California San Francisco Medical Center so she could surprise her father, Preston Rolan, who was confined there for acute leukemia, on her wedding day. She bought him a suit and showed up in her wedding gown as hospital employees lined the hallways to simulate a church aisle.

Preston was pleasantly surprised and cried happy tears as he managed to walk his daughter down the aisle. It was a priceless and beautiful occasion that no extravagant wedding could top.