Jessica Padgett and her fiance, Kendall Murphy, seemed like they were heading for their "happily ever after," until tragedy struck.
The couple from Montgomery, Indiana were set to tie the knot in September.
But last November, Murphy, a volunteer firefighter, was struck and killed by another firefighter, who was allegedly driving with a blood alcohol level more than twice Indiana's legal limit.
Despite the tragedy, 10 months after losing her fiance, Padgett was dressed in white and ready for photos on her wedding day.
"Whatever path you take, your guardian angel will always be there for you."
After losing Murphy, Padgett's mother, Katrina, reached out to the couple's wedding photographer, Mandi Knepp.
She asked Knepp to save the date anyway, hoping that the photos would help her daughter work through the pain of losing her fiance.
And just like any other wedding day, Knepp was on hand as Padgett put on her dress and makeup.
There were plenty of small touches with meaning for Padgett, including her bouquet of sunflowers - which she had picked out with Murphy - displayed in his cowboy boots.
"Whatever path you take," a card attached to the boots read, "your guardian angel will always be there for you. Love, Kendall."
Knepp also photographed a stack of letters sent to Padgett by members of her community, so big that Padgett said she could read one a day for six months.
"This week wasn't the outcome I wanted, but everyone made me feel especially loved."
While there was no wedding ceremony on Padgett's big day, her entire wedding party was on hand to pose for photos.
Members of her family, including one of Murphy's nephews born after his death, also helped pay tribute to him.
But the most moving part of the ceremony came when her maid of honor and Murphy's best man read speeches.
"I was very emotional," she said. "I had to take a break for a second because I was just crying so much from that."
"Thank you everyone for making my wedding day special even though I didn't get to marry the man of my dreams" she later wrote on Facebook.
"This week wasn't the outcome I wanted, but everyone made me feel especially loved."
And while taking wedding photos alone was obviously painful, Padgett said she's "kind of blessed" because of the impact her photos have made on social media.
" Its hard when you miss someone. But, you know, if you miss them you were BLESSED. It means you had someone special in your life, someone worth missing."
Posted by Loving Life Photography on Friday, October 5, 2018
"Because different people have been telling me how they have been struggling and seeing my pictures kind of brought strength and comfort."
Knepp may have said it best in her moving caption on Padgett's wedding album:
"[It's] hard when you miss someone. But, you know, if you miss them you were BLESSED. It means you had someone special in your life, someone worth missing."
[H/T: Kansas.com, CBS 4]
