What makes little kids love Disney so much? Disney tends to paint its most famous heroes and heroines just the way young kids feel in many ways: kind, innocent, and optimistic about the world. But it’s not all fun and games. In plenty of these movies, the main characters also have a disadvantage of some kind, like a curse, a mean-spirited family, or even no legs. But they find a way to overcome it – which makes its young audience optimistic about their own futures. For lifelong Disney fan Kyrsten Green, her future was going to be even better than her dreams. Dreaming of Disney Like many young kids, Kyrsten Green fell in love with Disney as a child. And like many young adults, she grew up to trade her dreams of being a princess for dreams of being a successful college graduate. And those dreams were going quite according to plan as she found lots of success in her young adult life. But she never expected her childhood dreams and her adult dreams to come together on the day of her wedding.

Big Girl Dreams Even though she didn’t grow up to be a princess, Kyrsten did truly feel like the girl who has everything by the time she reached adulthood. She was a successful realtor in New Jersey, and even managed to spend her extra time making dreams come true for other little girls around the world through intense volunteering projects. She’s deeply involved with The Hamels Foundation, and frequently travels to Malawi to work on educational projects – much to the admiration of her husband, Chris.

Daddy’s Little Girl Chris wasn’t always her husband, though. Kyrsten already had a man in her life, one who had always been by her side, through thick and thin, through sports injuries and Disney sing-a-longs. Not every little girl has a dad who wants to sing along to her favorite princess songs, but Kyrsten got lucky. That’s just one of many reasons it was so important to her that her father was a fan of the man who she came to love so much.

Love At First Drink When Kyrsten and Chris first met, they had that kind of love that just flowed, and they quickly became a part of each other’s lives. There were no expensive dinners or fancy flowers for these two – just two people who appreciate and admire each other. The pair can mutually appreciate a good cold pint, so for their first date, he actually took her to a bar. According to Kyrsten, it was just perfect – and destined to be repeated many times.

Sharing Interests But a cold drink was obviously not all that they shared. Although Chris couldn’t quite reach Kyrsten’s Disney-loving levels, it wasn’t a dealbreaker for her. They shared many other interests passionately: sports, politics, and adventure. They love a good day trying something they’ve never done before, somewhere they’ve never been before. But at the end of the day, they’ll always wind up back at the stadium for a game, and home together on the couch – preferably with a pint in hand.

Sharing Lives With someone he enjoyed having by his side so much, it must have been hard for Chris to watch Kyrsten jet off for her volunteer work without him. But he would never want to get in the way of her amazing work. He just wished he could know that she would always come back to him. Fortunately, he’d won over the heart of her dad Bob. And he knew that a good wish from Bob was as good as gold to Kyrsten.

Match Made In Casual Heaven After three years together full of great food, sports games, and more laughs than they could ever count, all Chris wanted was the promise of Kyrsten by his side for the rest of his life. That’s when he decided to pop the question – just as they were sitting on the couch at home, enjoying each other’s company as usual. Of course, he’d already bought the ring, but that was his only plan. Kyrsten’s dad, on the other hand, is more of a planner.

Daddy’s Little Girl Even as a kid, Kyrsten and her dad Bob shared a truly special bond. It’s easy for little girls to grow up feeling misunderstood by their fathers, who often struggle to keep up with the princess themes, musicals, dolls, and more beloved childhood toys. But that wasn’t true for Kyrsten and Bob – he loved nothing more than watching Disney movies with her while he watched her grow up. The two of them even coined the nickname “Disnerds” for each other.

Wedding Wishes Bob waited with anticipation throughout his daughter’s life for the day that she would get engaged. Once it happened, he knew that Disney just had to be a part of her world – that is to say, her wedding. But he didn’t know how easy it would be. Thinking back on all of their Disney-themed time together, Bob tried to dream up the gift of a lifetime for his little girl. Kyrsten’s all-time favorite movie was The Little Mermaid…but how could he incorporate it into their wedding?

A Bad Idea Bob thought about a softball-themed wedding and how funny his awesome daughter might find it. He loved making her laugh! But then he thought it would probably only be funny for him, his daughter, and fortunately, his son-in-law to-be – just one of the reasons he liked him so much. On top of that, sports at a wedding have a lot of potential for disaster… it would be a better idea to keep the flying objects and running shoes away from the scene. So he kept thinking.

A Flash Of Genius In a stroke of brilliance, Bob knew what he could do to make his little girl’s wedding day perfect. His daughter Kyrsten was no ordinary Disney fan; she knew more about the movies than most other fans, which meant that she would be able to appreciate a truly unique gift. So her father went to his computer and drafted up an email that he could only hope would be well-received. He sent it out and hoped for the best.

Wedding Planning In the meantime, Bob had a few more ideas up his sleeve to make Kyrsten’s wedding extra special – and hopefully even to fit in with the theme of his surprise. While the family was discussing wedding locations and venues, Bob egged his daughter on to host a seaside wedding, keeping the affair close to the ocean. Kyrsten’s lifelong obsession with the deep blue sea made her easily agree, and they picked the coastal Avalon venue as the perfect spot for their perfect day.

A Little More Glamour Unlike the low-key vibe they’d shared for most of their relationship so far, the almost-married couple thought it was worth putting quite a bit of effort into their wedding. The two had found perfect companions in each other, which was worth celebrating, and they only had one day to properly honor it. They wanted to make sure that the day was as special for the audience as it was for them. Little did they know, Kyrsten’s dad had the same idea…and a different plan.

The Obvious Choice Avalon was the perfect choice for a venue because it provided the kind of pizazz that would have the stars twinkling in their guests’ eyes. And of course, it was right next to Kyrsten’s second home: the beach, which kept so many of her childhood dreams close. They decided to go all-out and invite their guests to stay overnight, celebrating with them in the evenings and spending the day free to explore the area however they’d like. Certainly, a lot of dreams came true that day!

A Little Time Alone While their family and friends were out and about enjoying their free time, Kyrsten and Chris were especially happy to spend some time just the two of them and cherish their special moment. After giving their photographer a few seconds of their time, they went off on their own to think about the rest of their lives and marvel at how many of their dreams had already come true. But Kyrsten had another dream in tow that she didn’t even know about yet.

Back To The Festivities Once all the people had gathered together once more, the festivities could really begin. Everybody was happy and having such a good time, that it was hard to pay too much attention to what was going on with…Bob’s hands. That’s right – Bob went from his dapper proud father of the bride attire to wearing large, cartoonish gloves that seemed familiar to just about everyone in the room. They were in fact Mickey Mouse gloves – but what he wearing them for?

Vows By The Sea Kyrsten and Bob could not have been happier to share their day with so many treasured friends, by a beautiful beach, and with their loving and supportive parents present. But one parent didn’t quite seem to nail the dress code. After the formalities had been finished and the two were officially hitched, everybody moved inside of the barn to celebrate their union. That’s when Bob showed up with cartoon mittens on his hands. They did not go unnoticed.

The Celebrations Continue Bob couldn’t have possibly thought he could get away with giant Mickey Mouse hands without some questions, but at first, everyone just wrote it off as a cute detail. As the night went on, Bob began to throw Mickey impressions out into his conversations here and there, making people laugh and wonder what he was up to. But it was easy to see that it was making Kyrsten happy, which justified it enough to the crowd – everyone except Kyrsten, that is.

Kyrsten Starts Suspecting Kyrsten was loving the Mickey Mouse charade as much as everyone else, but it did seem a little bit out of place with an entire wedding full of formally dressed people. But the crowd hadn’t seen anything yet. Bob really got into full swing when it was time for his toast, as he wheeled out a projection screen featuring a picture of their family and his baby girl as a baby girl. Then he started to get real sentimental with the crowd.

Bob Gives A Beautiful Speech Bob had a lot to say about raising his beloved daughter. They had been able to share so much over the years, from the Disney movies that brought her closer to her dream of making beautiful lives for children everywhere, to playing sports as a girl that brought her closer to her dream husband as a woman. He told the attendees that she would always be his little girl, and then asked Kyrsten directly: “What’s your favorite Disney movie?”

Dad’s Up To Something Kyrsten immediately answered, “The Little Mermaid.” Bob said. “That’s right!” and suddenly walked off – nobody knew what to make of his random question, or sudden disappearance, and Kyrsten and Chris looked after him trying to understand if he was coming back. But they didn’t have to wait long. All of a sudden Bob came back with a big smile on his face…and a special guest on his arm that most people in the crowd didn’t recognize – except for Kyrsten…

A Mermaid On Land Kyrsten knew who was walking alongside her father right away. As her hands flew to her face in shock, Chris knew something special was going on, but even he didn’t have a clue what it was yet. Bob took up the microphone to introduce his special guest: Jodi Benson, the voice of The Little Mermaid‘s Ariel. Everyone was astonished – see, Jodi is quite famous, though usually only for her voice. But Kyrsten is a special fan who had been worshipping her for years.

Part Of Her Wedding…World With the mic in hand, Jodi told the audience what a special occasion this was for her, as well. See, most people didn’t look behind the cartoon face of Ariel to get to know the singer, so to be recognized by Kyrsten felt just as magical to her as she imagined having her there felt for Kyrsten. She also shared that she had never been invited to perform at a wedding before – and without further ado, she got ready to do so for the first time…

Next To The Sea As the projection screen silently presented the clip of Kyrsten’s favorite childhood movie and song, Jodi sang alongside it – and Kyrsten sang alongside her. Every single word, in fact. The song was just the same as it had always been in the movie, and the timeless experience seemed to connect her past to her present in the most beautiful way. Bob could see right away that his gift had been a success, and was happy to see all of his little girl’s dreams coming true.

A Gift For All But the moment wasn’t only special for Kyrsten, Bob, and Jodi. Everybody loves surprises, and to witness Kyrsten’s dreams all come true on the same day was a magical experience for the whole audience. Not to mention, they were getting to see a woman who was used to performing with entire orchestras in grand auditoriums sing within just a few feet of them. As for Bob, he was just grateful that the email he’d sent out on a prayer had been answered. But why did Krysten love the film so much?

Why The Little Mermaid? But what is it exactly about The Little Mermaid that makes young girls dream so much? What made this movie so fascinating for Kyrsten? To put it simply, most kids love swimming, and mermaids get to actually live in the sea. But on a deeper level, they’re a clue to a mysteriously enticing world that we see so little of and know so little about. They’re still human enough to live out our underwater fantasies, even though most people consider them just that: a fantasy.

More Than Legend But that’s not true for everyone. People have claimed that mermaids are real for thousands of years, with countless mermaid sightings and testimonies documented around the world. And some still insist that mermaids are out there – more than many other fantasy creatures, since sightings have been reported all over the world. It seems that finally, for one little girl, mermaids really were a part of her world – it just took a wedding to make it happen.

A Worldwide Legend Well, mermaids have been spotted by different people all over the world – many of whom might never have been exposed to each other’s legends. This makes the tales of mermaid sightings seem more believable to people; how could people from different places who never met each other dream up almost the exact same story? Other myths from different regions are so different from each other, but mermaids kept popping up everywhere – looking almost exactly the same. And there’s plenty of art to prove it.

The Mermaid Goddess There’s mermaid art as old as ancient Babylon, maybe even older. But the earliest known writing about mermaids was from ancient Assyria. There, a goddess who accidentally killed her lover punished herself by turning her legs into a fishtail in order to isolate herself from the rest of the human world. Having her legs bound together and her life bound to the sea, she could never again be with a human she loved. It sounds a lot like Ariel’s story, doesn’t it?

Mermaids Around The World But Ariel’s story actually comes from Denmark, thousands of years later. The truth is, accounts of mermaids have appeared in almost every corner of the world. In Ancient Greece, Alexander the Great’s sister was believed to be a mermaid who would terrorize the waters of any travelers who didn’t acknowledge his rule. In the 1st century AD, Roman scholar Pliny the Elder wrote them into his book of natural history. Korea and China both have accounts of mermaids from the 4th century – and that’s not all.