Nothing gets the tears flowing like a wedding ceremony. And why not? They are a joyous occasion filled with laughter, love, joy, and sometimes a little drama. They bring families together to witness the ultimate upgrade of a loving relationship.
Unfortunately, not everyone in the family can be present.
Chelsey Mahlke, a cattle rancher from Las Vegas, married the man of her dreams in the summer of 2020. And although it was the happiest day of her life, her only regret was that her grandmother, Janience Bellanger, could not attend her granddaughter’s wedding since she passed away fifteen years earlier from ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease.
The groom, Darin Mahlke, knew the two had a very close relationship.
Darin, a manager for a company that specializes in medical devices, first met Chelsey at a gym. She worked as a front desk receptionist, whereas he was just a member. After a few years, they then began dating in 2014 before finally deciding to tie the know six years later.
What always attracted Darin to his bride-to-be was her devotion to family. She would collect photos, trinkets, and other forms of memorabilia as her family’s unofficial historian.
One day, Chelsey shared with him a long-lost recording of her grandmother singing as a teenager in 1947. As soon as he heard it, Darin knew he wanted that specific song in their wedding.
He figured that if her grandmother couldn’t be at the wedding physically, she could still be there in spirit.
Chelsey had the song transferred to CDs to give as gifts to family members for the wedding, but Darin had a different idea.
Enlisting the help of the deejay and the wedding planner, Darin took one of the CDs and transferred it to an MP3. Originally, the song for their first dance was Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”
But to her initial confusion, Darin took the microphone and made a little announcement.
“Honey, I’m sorry,” Darin said on a Youtube video, “but there’s a better song. Sung by someone who would’ve loved to be here today. And so this way, she can.”
Darin then surprised his newly-wed wife by playing a long-lost recording of her grandmother singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
As soon as the recording played, Chelsey was stunned and left in tears as she embraced Darin.
“I knew it had to be my grandma because that was what was most important to me and what I missed most that day,” Chelsey said in an interview with Today. “As soon as I actually heard her voice, it was like everyone in that entire room except for Darin and my grandma disappeared because it was like she was there with us
The newly-wed couple danced slowly and lovingly as the crowd of guests watched with melting hearts. Once their dance finished the crowd erupted into applause.
Take a few minutes and check out this absolutely heartwarming video below of the couple’s first dance.
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