A bride asked her parents to have their first dance at her wedding after they missed the opportunity 25 years ago

• A bride in Southern California let her parents have their first dance at her wedding.
• Her parents, Chris and Jacque Ford, eloped in 1998 when they were 18.

A bride surprised her parents by letting them have their first dance at her wedding.

Chris and Jacque Ford's eldest daughter, Zoe, married on July 1 during a backyard wedding at their Southern California home. During the reception, Zoe took the opportunity to create a special moment for her parents.

"As some of you may or may not know, my parents ran away when they were 18 and got married in secret, and they never got their own first dance," Zoe said in a TikTok video Jacque shared Friday. "So, we would like to give that to you guys as a thank you for always being there for us and supporting us."

The video then showed a photo montage of Chris and Jacque's first dance while guests looked on with emotion.

Jacque told Insider that having a first dance with her husband of 25 years was "surreal." She added that the TikTok featured Ellie Goulding's cover of Elton John's 1970 hit, "Your Song," because that was the song they danced to.

The couple began dating at 15 before tying the knot at a courthouse when they were 18 in 1998. They kept their marriage a secret for almost a year, but the truth unraveled after Jacque's mother tried to file taxes.

"She tried to claim me and her tax lady was like, 'Oh, you can't claim that social security number. It's married.'"

Although the couple renewed their vows in 2017 at Israel's Sea of Galilee, they never had a formal ceremony that involved friends and family. Jacque said she doesn't typically enjoy the spotlight, so "that's probably why we didn't push."

"We were like, 'We don't need a wedding,' Jacque said. "But to have that moment Zoe gave to us … that fulfilled me in a way that I didn't even know I wanted or needed. It was a beautiful moment to have with him."

Chris joined the Air Force after high school and currently serves as a fire captain at Camp Pendleton. Jacque is an event florist who runs De Bloem Co. in the same building as her sister's cold-pressed juice shop. The couple have three children, including two daughters and one son.

Jacque revealed in a third TikTok that she designed Zoe's bouquet, which she said brought "a different type of stress."

TikTok users gushed about the couple in the comment section, with one person calling their first dance "an incredibly special and thoughtful moment."