Two years before she tied the knot, Kelli Elsen already knew what song she wanted playing at her wedding during her father-daughter dance: “First Man,” by Camila Cabello.
But Elsen, who got married near Iowa City, Iowa, earlier this month, never could have planned for how that special moment actually unfolded.
The night before her wedding, Elsen and her family were in a hotel — and so was Cabello.
“I told my mom, I’m like, ‘Should I go say something?’ and she’s like, ‘Yeah, Kelli, everything happens for a reason. You always say that,'" Elsen recalled.
She said she walked up to the entertainer and introduced herself and told her about her plans for her father-daughter dance.
"And without hesitation," Cabello "just offered to sing it for me.”
The gesture went viral on TikTok, in a video that included Cabello’s speech and performance as Elsen danced with her dad, Mike Murray.
Cabello, who said she was in town for another wedding, said she wrote “First Man” about her own dad.
“I’m such a daddy’s girl, and I feel like, your dad, if you’re lucky, is your first love, is your first hero,” the Grammy-nominated star said at the wedding, adding, “And I could tell from speaking to you guys yesterday that your dad loves the hell out of you.”