When she found out her grandma wouldn’t likely make it to her real wedding, this woman had a bridal photo shoot just for her grandmother.
In a recent post from Love What Matters on Facebook, Brittany Marr shared her story of a bridal shoot she did just for her grandmother, Ellen Haynes. Brittany and Ellen have always been close. Due to health problems, Ellen was worried she wouldn’t get to see her granddaughter get married or dance at her wedding.
In the portion of the post written by Brittany, she explained the poor condition her grandmother was in.
“My grandma was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer last year before Christmas. It was in her left breast and her bones in her back. The cancer was eating her bones which had caused her to have extreme pain and break bones in her back easily. She had chemo and radiation, months of not being able to sleep in her own bed because of the risks and pain. She had to wear, what we called, her turtle shell to help with keeping her spine straight and her back in place for healing.”
Despite the prognosis, the cancer was “controlled for a few months.” But then, Brittany explained that her grandma had been having “lots of odd pain in her arm.” The doctor discovered three more spots in her arm and suggested radiation right away.
While the cancer was clearly upsetting, what worried Ellen most was missing her granddaughter’s future wedding.
Brittany told Love What Matters:
“After having a conversation over the phone with her, she just cried to me about how much she wants to be able to dance at my wedding.”
Brittany assured her grandma that “this is simply a bump in the road and I know she will do just that.” The post went on to say:
“I’d like to capture through pictures the love I have for her and the love she gives me.”
Luckily for Brittany and Ellen, they got just that chance when Brittany won a contest for a photoshoot from Copper + Pine. As Brittany says in the post:
“Copper + Pine who captured a ‘first look’ so my grandma could see me in my dress. We also had a wedding dance and exchanged letters. We danced together to ‘I’m Gonna Love You Through It’ by Martina McBride.”
The photographer from Cooper + Pine, Mikayla, who did the shoot said it was an amazing experience.
She told Love What Matters:
“I spoke to Brittany and told her that we’d plan it almost like a first look at a wedding, except with her grandma instead of a groom!”
They waited a little bit for the weather to turn nicer then did the photoshoot at a field close to where Brittany lives. At the beginning of the session, Mikayla just took casual photos and portraits, capturing the love between grandma and granddaughter. Then, the purpose of the shoot began:
“After they were finished, they changed into their wedding outfits. Ellen stood out in the field and I told her to close her eyes and wait until Brittany was close enough to tap her shoulder. Her grandma’s reaction when she finally saw, was the sweetest thing.”
According to Mikayla:
“The bond that those two share is absolutely incredible.”
Mikayla went on to say that she doesn’t know what the letters they each wrote to each other said:
“Although Brittany did keep laughing about the memories her grandma had written about in her letter as she was reading them. They cried and laughed.”
For Mikayla, the most emotional part of the photo session was the dance.
“The dance that they shared together was probably the thing that stuck out the most. Brittany picked out the song and left it a surprise for her grandma. It was the only time during the session where Brittany and grandma really, really cried together.”
Hopefully, this preview will not have been necessary and Ellen will make it to Brittany’s real big day. At the very least, they have the memories of this special photo session.
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