Bride's 'First Look' Photo Shoot with Little Brother Is Truly Heartwarming
When you’re a photographer, you get to meet people and help them capture some of their most powerful memories. It’s a heavy burden to be tasked with, immortalizing special events and capturing just the right moments, but many find it incredibly rewarding as well.
Kelsey Watroba is a photographer who recently was hired to work a wedding in Geneseo, New York, with a very unique “first look.” Generally, the first look refers to the moment the bride and groom first see each other decked out in their wedding finery, but bride Ashley Sedar had a different idea.
Sedar’s brother, Nick Rice, has Down syndrome. The two are best friends, and Sedar decided she had to include him in more than just the bridal party.
“I had always imagined us seeing each other as I walked down the aisle,” Sedar told ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “I was chatting with a friend at work about what I should do, and she instantly said, ‘Well you obviously need to do one with your brother,’ and it just clicked.”
“My relationship with Nick is a beautiful one, but also a normal one,” she said. “I’m his biggest supporter, and we love each other fiercely.
“But he is still my little brother and we do normal things that brothers and sisters do. We bicker and we annoy each other. We frustrate each other at times, and then the next day they are forgotten, and we’re back to normal, and that’s normal. At least it is for us.”
Watroba of Kelsey Gene Photography was touched by the scene between brother and sister, and posted the photos on Facebook with her own account of the heartwarming moment.
“Ohhh my…This wedding day was extraordinary for many reasons,” she said. “But possibly one of my favorite moments was the special first looked Ashley planned for her little brother, Nick.
“Before the ceremony, these two carved out a moment to spend together. And it was so special and pure. Nick had some very heartfelt thoughts to share with his sister. When I tell you, that there was not a dry eye in the room… oh yes I was right along with them in tears.”
“I love that Ashley and her husband Brian chose to include moments in their day that felt right to them, even if it’s a little outside the ‘normal’ or ‘traditional.’ It’s so important to remember that this day is about your relationship, your families, and your values,” Watroba said. “And guess what? That’s different for everyone!”
She later told “GMA” that the first look was “one of the sweetest things I have ever witnessed in my entire career as a photographer.”
As for Price, he had a specific message he wanted to shared with his beautiful sister: “‘You are the most indescribable person in the world,” he said, according to Sedar. “I can’t even describe it.”
“It was very sweet and we were both in tears,” Sedar said. “I’ll never forget it.”
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