When Brian Kurtulik’s 91-year-old grandmother could not make it to his wedding due to an ankle injury, Kurtulik and his bride, Lauren, decided to bring their wedding party to her.
The Kurtuliks made a spur-of-the-moment decision to stop at the rehabilitation center where Brian’s grandmother, Peg McCormack, was recovering from a broken ankle on their way to the reception.
When the couple walked into the room, they were surprised to see McCormack in bed wearing the outfit she had planned to wear to their wedding, party shoes and wedding corsage included.
“She was all dressed up and just hanging out, like she was there in spirit,” Lauren, 30, told ABC News.
The wedding was of special significance for McCormack because Brian, 32, was her first grandchild to get married and the couple wed in the same Madison, New Jersey, church where McCormack herself was married.
The couple just received their wedding video this week, which includes the moment they surprised McCormack. The video also shows Lauren and Brian walking through the rehabilitation center in their wedding gown and tuxedo.
The video of the touching moment, captured by Charles Anthony Studio, is an especially poignant wedding keepsake because McCormack passed away just weeks after the wedding.
“She lived only a half-hour away and was a big part of our lives growing up,” Brian said of his maternal grandmother. “Anything going on in our lives she was there. She lived from party to party."
Lauren, who dated Brian for more than six years before they wed, said she will never forget McCormack's face when they surprised her on their wedding day.
“I walked in first and her mouth flew open,” Lauren recalled. “She was just staring at me and then Brian walked in.”
“She kept saying, ‘I have a granddaughter. I finally have a granddaughter,’” said Lauren. “She wasn’t saying much but was in such shock and such disbelief.”
The couple, who came into McCormack’s room with Brian’s mom and his brother, among other family members, stayed for nearly 30 minutes before departing for the reception.
“She was so thankful and just beside herself,” Brian said.
The photos of the surprise were captured by the couple's wedding photographer, Rachel Nolan of Hello Gorgeous Photography, who recalled seeing McCormack laying in her bed, dressed in her wedding finest.
"There she sat in her wedding outfit thinking of her sweet grandson on his wedding day with no idea of what was to come," Nolan told ABC News. "She truly had no idea that Brian and Lauren were going to take time out of their wedding day to come see her and I think that is part of what made it special."
"You could just tell that they made her day with such a kind gesture," she added. "There wasn't a dry eye in the entire room."
