This story originally aired on September 2, 2017.
Weddings are one of the few events in our lives that are planned with precision and detail. They can be logistical challenges involving food, entertaining guests, making time to take photographs and figuring out which music to play that will coax people onto the dance floor.
On the day Shandance Robertson got married in February, something completely unexpected happened that was not part of the plan.
Shandance was posing for photos in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. Her wedding dress was white with a lace overlay. A cascade of white tulle draped from her hair, down her back.
A little girl ran up to Shandance. Shandance did not know this toddler, but the child appeared to know the new bride.
The child was carrying a book with a woman on the cover who looked like a princess, dressed in a white gown just like Shandance. The child was convinced she was crossing paths with an actual princess!
“When you see a celebrity and someone you’ve been staring at a picture of, it was just like, whoa!” recalls the child’s mother, Kelsey Edwards, describing her daughter’s reaction when she first laid eyes on the new bride.
Shandance did not hesitate. She lifted up the beaming little girl and embraced her. The child’s small feet muddied the white dress. Shandance did not care one bit.
“It was probably the sweetest part of our wedding. So, the dancing, the cake, the socializing, that was all great, but this was so organic. We were talking about it for weeks afterward,” says Shandance.
