The dress reveal has become a staple part of the Mabrys’ holiday festivities

Mark Mabry isn’t a big traditions guy, but there’s one that’s become a big part of his life.

As a child, every year for Christmas, Mark’s parents surprised his sisters with a new dress each to wear that day. So, when Mark welcomed his daughter, Ava, with his wife in 2006, he thought it would be fun to keep this ritual alive.

For her first Christmas, Mark, now 47, shopped around and purchased a red dress for Ava to wear to church, along with festive shoes and a red diaper cover. The next year, he went back to find another dress. While he and his wife Tara, are inseparable, every year, when he goes to pick out the dress, he goes alone.

Now, 18 years later, the dress reveal has become a staple of the family’s holiday festivities, which Ava, a singer-songwriter in Franklin, Tenn., looks forward to opening all year.