The wedding itself is already full of emotions, but a bride from Los Angeles, in the USA, decided to go the extra mile to bring her loved one to tears even before the exchange of rings.
Chelsie Hill has a disability in her legs, and has not stood or walked in years.
With a lot of effort, she physically prepared herself to surprise her husband, Jay, – and all the guests present at the ceremony.
“It took months of training for this moment… and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I don’t think I’ve shared this before, but I’ll be honest, it wasn’t about walking. It was about imagining this incredible [wedding] moment. To my community: I want everyone to know that if you see this and it’s not an option, you’re going to have a beautiful wedding anyway. What makes a wedding beautiful is seeing the love between the two people and celebrating that… I want to relive that day again and again 💍”, said the bride.
As she prepared to walk down the aisle, Chelsie stood up and, with the help of a walker, walked to her husband to take her marriage vows, just as she had been preparing for so many months.
Shocked by the beautiful scene, he was moved to tears! (and us too 😭)
Woman surprises her fiancé at the altar, walking for the first time in 3 years
Woman surprised the groom and all the ceremony guests. Photo: Reproduction / Instagram: @chelsiehill
The scene was recorded on video and shared on the American’s profile, which has nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram.
That exchange of glances
Chelsie Hill was working when she locked eyes with a stranger across the room. Neither Hill nor that man spoke until six months later, when they looked at each other again. This time, Hill and Jason Bloomfield (the “Jay”) were again working on the same event in a different location.
He, luckily, had the common sense and courage to approach her this time. “The rest is history,” Chelsie told The Knot.
Wedding
On the 10th anniversary of her accident, Chelsie threw a party to celebrate life. With all of his closest loved ones there, Jay believed this was the opportune time to propose.
“At the end of the night, they showed a special video with loved ones sharing notes. Jay was the last one,” recalls the newlywed. “He told me to flip the clip over and asked the question right then and there.” Chelsie accepted right away!
Months later, while planning her wedding, she wanted to find a dress that would help her move comfortably and shine without a doubt. Working closely with the team at Galia Lahav store, the bride fell in love with the idea of a custom gown that featured a detachable skirt.
“The dress had a sweetheart neckline with a tulle skirt. The best part of the dress was the removable skirt,” she says. “So when I was standing, it was short in the front and long in the back. But when I sat in the wheelchair, we’d rotate the skirt so it was long in the front and short in the back. That way, I wouldn’t be trapped in the wheelchair.”
physical preparation
One of the biggest moments of the wedding day was the couple’s ceremony. For months, Chelsie had prepared hard for the moment when she would enter her wedding march ceremony—after all, her goal was to walk down the aisle.
“It was my favorite moment of the wedding day,” he recalled. “I felt like giving up halfway through because it was so hard. But Jay and I were stuck with each other, and he gave me so much confidence with every step I took… It was such a magical feeling.”