Katie Couric, 64, revealed that her daughter Ellie, 29, found a special way to honor her late father Jay Monahan during her wedding ceremony on the Fourth of July in Port Jervis, New York. The famed broadcaster wrote that her daughter walked down the aisle to “Ashokan Farewell,” which was played by the composer Jay Unger. The song was written for Ken Burns’ docu-series The Civil War, which her father loved.
Katie shared a video of the touching moment, alongside many other photos and videos from the wedding, on Wednesday July 7. Ellie looked gorgeous as she walked down the aisle for the outdoor wedding. Right before she got to the alter, Ellie went and gave her mom a big hug. Katie was wearing a beautiful pink dress embroidered with leaves. “Yes, I cried the whole time. Most of the people there did,” Katie wrote in the caption.
Using one of her father’s favorite songs was a sweet nod to Jay in Ellie’s ceremony. Katie married Jay in 1998 and had Ellie and Carrie, 25, with him. He sadly passed away at 42 in 1998 after battling colorectal cancer. Katie’s been married to financier John Molner since 2014.
In the days since the wedding, Katie’s taken to Instagram to share all sorts of memorable moments from her daughter’s wedding to Mark Dobrosky. “Ashokan Farewell” wasn’t the only musical moment during the wedding. Katie wrote that Carrie “CRUSHED” a cover of “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac for her sister. Since they were wed on the Fourth of July, Katie also posted a romantic photo of Ellie and Mark taking in some fireworks during their special day. “Ellie was a breathtakingly beautiful bride. Mark was a dashing and beaming groom,” Katie wrote in an Instagram caption. “It was such an incredible, moving, extraordinary weekend full of love and friendship and some serious competition during Field Day.”
The tribute to Jay was a beautiful touch for what was surely a wonderful ceremony. Even though he’s been gone for so long, he was still an important part of Mark and Ellie’s love story. When Mark proposed to Ellie in February 2019, Katie showed how excited she was for her daughter and the ring Mark proposed with. The journalist said that Mark had asked for her permission and that he used the same ring that Jay had proposed to her with.