You guys, this man you see in that photo below… that’s my daddy.

Today is my daddy’s birthday. But before I get to gushing on my dad, I thought this was a great opportunity to share some of my favorite photos of my daddy and me from my wedding. Why? Cause I can. BOOM!

all photos taken by the amazing katelyn james of katelyn james photography.

so, a lot of brides and grooms decide to do a “first look” on their wedding day. and that’s awesome. hubs and i did that and it was one of the best decisions we made. but i wanted to do a daddy / daughter first look – that was super important to me. i am really, really close with my daddy and i wanted to capture the moment he saw me all dolled up on my wedding day on camera. and these images are some of the images i will cherish forever.

best daddy reaction ever.

yeah i totally smeared all my makeup. totally worth it.

i love this one.

some great shots of my daddy walking down the aisle.

i feel like this picture below literally says 1,000 words. i love it.

our daddy/daughter dance. we danced to “I’ll Always Be Your Baby” by Natalie Grant. listen to the song. i dare you not to cry.

yeah, and then THESE photos are the truest testament to my relationship with my dad.

we are totally weird. and i’m okay with it.

So yeah, today’s my daddy’s birthday. I often don’t know how to put into words the relationship I have with my dad. He’s my rock, he’s my best friend, and he raised me to have extremely high expectations for whomever I would end up marrying. news flash, I chose well. 🙂

My dad is such an amazing father to my sister and me and he was such an amazing husband to my mama. He’s been through so much in his life and I know my mom’s passing was so hard on him, but through it all he’s stayed so strong. He works so hard, loves and takes care of people so selflessly, and I just think he deserves the world. And of course, he’s so smart, and seriously… I don’t think I can even begin to explain how hilarious my dad is.

My dad is straight up RIDICULOUSLY funny. When I was a kid he used to walk up the stairs of our house chanting the “Yo wee yo, yooooo oh” winkies chant from Wizard of Oz… or wake me up in the morning before school with his face covered in shaving cream… or dance to “Land of 1000 Dances” in the car with me.

As I think about how blessed I am, I can’t help but owe so much of it to the amazing man that is my father. I would not, without question, be who I am, or where I am, today without it.

So, daddy… I LOVE YOU! Happy Birthday! God knew what He was doing when He made me your earthly daughter. 🙂 I hope you have the best day ever! I miss you and I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve ever done for me!

If you want, you can wish my daddy a happy birthday in the comments and I will read them all to him! 🙂 He loves notes, even from strangers!  OR, you can gush on someone in your life. Doesn’t have to be a dad, can be a mom, or a brother, or sister, or friend.

Who do you want to gush on? Tell me all about that amazing person in your life.

xoxo, all for now.