A bride gave her beloved grandma who couldn’t attend her wedding a surprise she’ll never forget when she showed up at her home in her wedding dress.
Jessica Lauser, 29, is a self-confessed “grandma’s girl,” so when 97-year-old Helen Quinlan couldn’t make her granddaughter’s wedding for health reasons, Jessica and Helen were left devastated.
It was Helen, Jessica said, who babysat her as a youngster, taking Jessica and her siblings to the carousel, dance lessons, and shopping at the mall.
Helen also responded to taking Jessica to art classes. Now that her granddaughter is a full-time artist with over one million TikTok followers, the 97-year-old proudly takes credit for starting Jessica on her journey.
With Helen’s family making the tough decision that she could not attend Jessica’s Staten Island, New York, wedding because such a long day would be too much for her, Jessica decided to come up with a way to make her grandma still feel part of the wedding.
Ten days after the wedding, Jessica donned her wedding dress again and styled her hair similarly to how she had it on her big day.
She and her husband Camron Rodriguez, 29, then drove to Helen’s house, where Jessica walked into her living room to surprise her grandma.
When she looked at her granddaughter, Helen immediately lit up with joy.
Jessica’s mom, Donna, captured the moment on video, which the 29-year-old shared on TikTok.
Jessica said: “I, of course, understood her reasoning for not coming, but I still wanted to somehow include my grandma in one of the biggest days of my life.
“I asked my mom what she thought about my idea of visiting her in my dress, and she loved it.
“My mom takes care of my grandma a lot, so she helped organize the entire thing, along with my younger brother.
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“I was happy to have an excuse to wear my wedding dress again only ten days after the actual wedding, so I did my hair and makeup similar to how it was that day, drove over to her house with my husband, and my younger brother opened the door to let us in.
“My grandma was so surprised and just kept saying how happy she was that I wore my dress.
“I could tell she was happy and surprised because she couldn’t stop smiling and laughing.
“I knew seeing my grandma’s reaction would be emotional, and it was.
“My grandma is so special to me, and I was sad she couldn’t be there on the day.
“Visiting her in my wedding dress with my husband in the house I spent so much time in as a kid was a moment I’ll never forget.”
