Father of the Bride

So Matt and I just watched "Father of the Bride" (the 1991 remake with Steve Martin.)

Clearly it was my pick for movie night.

This movie is one of my all time favorites. My earliest memory of seeing this film is when Shelby gave it to Dad around the time she announced she was getting married. (I believe that's who gave it to him. Right, Shelby???)

I must have been only seven or eight (When did you get married, Shelby???) but I LOVED IT. And since then I've always associated that movie with my father.

Not that he and the father in the movie, George Banks, have too much in common.
George Banks freaks out over the cost of his daughter's wedding ($250 per person?! 150 people?! That's $37,500. IN 1991 DOLLARS!)

Fun fact? Kimberly Williams, who plays Annie, the daughter/bride, married Brad Paisley in real life.

Michael Bible... not so much. When I was glum over my 2000 wedding gown (on my 6000 budget), Dad was all like "I'll just get it. Don't worry about it."

(Luckily I found my dress for $500, regular 2300).

One thing my father and George Banks do share is their sweet, deep love for their daughters, and the anxiety over not being the most important man in their lives.

No, that's not me as a baby. That's my niece Julia when she was, like 8 months old. It's just my Dad's favorite picture of all time. Seriously. He got it made into a poster. I kid you not.

New York, 2007. Daddy and I at Rockefeller Center in New York City (my 18th birthday gift.)


Michael Bible had three daughters, and no sons, so he was constantly surrounded by sweet little girls wanting to play princess, host tea parties, and ride on his shoulders. I was born a little later in his life, when he had grown accustomed to his teenage daughter and nine-year old.

I was a bit spoiled, because I had him all to myself. I remember Sundays were the day Dad would take me out to lunch, just him and I, and I could order anything I wanted. Even if I didn't finish my plate. AND get dessert. I also discovered that shopping with Dad was more... how shall I say... fruitful? successful? Essentially I could come out of the dressing room with a dozen things, and while Mom would say, "Pick the three you really need," Dad (in his desperation to stop shopping) would say, "Why pick? Take them all!"

Fortunately by the time I became a teenager, Daddy was used to the mood swings, stress, and randomness that goes with being fourteen (and fifteen, and sixteen, and, okay, I'll say it: being a girl.)

I always remained a Daddy's girl, and Matt can attest to the fact the ANY father/daughter moments make me cry.

Like commercials.
Cheesy tv shows.
Sappy daddy/daughter songs.
Just thinking about him in general. Like now.

Seriously, I still can't listen to "Butterfly Kisses." One time, I was singing it to myself (don't ask how it got into my head) and I made myself cry.

Anyways, back to the movie, there is this scene that my father swears is EXACTLY what it is like when a father learns his daughter is getting married.



Love it.

Now, to find a song for the Father/Daughter dance AKA the song I'm going to sob uncontrollably into my father's chest while I remember him spinning me around the living room to country songs.

That's why they make waterproof mascara.