For people who decide to get married, your wedding day is one of the most monumental and memorable of your life. Not only are you officially embarking on the rest of your life with the person you believe is your soulmate, but you’re also doing it in front of family, friends, and the people who mean the most to you. It’s a beautiful thing, especially when those special moments are captured on film. That was certainly the case with this “first look” photoshoot between bride Ashley Sedar and her brother Nick Rice.
Read on to hear more about the big day as well as to see more photos of the moment Nick saw his sister in her wedding dress for the first time.
- Ashley and Brian Sedar wanted to put a twist on the traditional. As they discussed their wedding, Ashley realized that while she was really into doing a “first look” photoshoot, where the groom sees his bride for the first time, she didn’t really want it to be with Brian. “I like the idea of the first look, but I didn’t want one with Brian because I’d always grown up imagining walking down the aisle,” she told Insider.
- A friend suggested Ashley do the shoot with her brother. Ashley and her brother Nick, who has Down syndrome, have always been really close. While Nick was happy to take on a groomsman role in the wedding party, Ashley admitted that he’d struggled with his sister’s engagement at first because he was worried he might lose her for good. “I could tell that when we got engaged, he was struggling with these feelings of loving Brian and being really happy that Brian was going to be my husband and then also dealing with the stress of losing me,” Sedar said. Thankfully, those feelings passed, and Ashley was more than on board with her friend’s idea.
- Photographer Kelsey Watroba was the one to take the pictures. Watroba told Insider that she was thrilled to be part of Ashley’s big day and especially the “first look” shoot, especially since it was such a creative approach to the traditional idea. “I really admire that Ashley and her husband Brian chose to plan their wedding around what was right for their family, regardless of what is popular or traditional,” she said.
- Nick’s reaction when he saw his sister was priceless. “He was just like teary-eyed and blinking. You could tell he was just feeling so much emotion,” Sedar recalled of the big day. “He couldn’t even say anything. It was exactly what I wanted.” He eventually found his words again and told Ashley that she is “the most indescribable person in the world.” Aww!
- He even made a moving speech at the wedding. If the “first look” wasn’t enough to get you crying, Nick’s speech for Ashley and Brian at the wedding left no dry eyes in the room. While Ashley worried he might get shy despite working on the speech for a year, Nick didn’t disappoint. “Nick just looked at me and grabbed the mic and went, ‘I got it,'” Ashley remembered. “Literally everybody was sobbing. His speech was just unbelievable.”
