A bride whose sister went into labor on her wedding day cried tears of joy at the reception when she received a message from her at hospital revealing her newborn niece had been named after her.
When Madison George found out she was pregnant with her second child, she knew there was a chance she could give birth around the time her sister, Elizabeth “Liz” Roberts, was getting married, on May 30.
Liz, 28, accepted the reality of 31-year-old Madison’s situation, and as the big day approached, the sisters, from North Carolina, made it to the night before the wedding.
But when her waters broke at 6am the day of the wedding, she and her husband, Kirk, decided not to initially tell anyone, so the wedding party could sleep ahead of the festivities in Savannah, Georgia.
After Liz had woken up, Madison called her in tears, only for the bride to assure her everyone was fine and she was in the right place in hospital.
Madison and Kirk told their relatives not to head to the hospital, and their 22-month-old daughter, Blair, attended the wedding as a flower girl with a babysitter.
Blair’s sister was then born around 8pm just before Liz and wife Keana Upshaw, 30, gave their speeches and toasts.
Liz’s brother, Nick, then proudly showed off his phone as Madison called him via FaceTime, along with her newborn baby daughter.
But there was one more surprise – as Liz and Keana sat, the DJ played an audio message from Madison announcing the birth of her daughter and her full name, Elizabeth “Ellie” Bennett George.
The scale of the moment brought Liz to tears, and Madison later posted a video of the moment on social media, where the post went viral and received millions of views.
The couple’s wedding photographer, Esther Griffin, also shared a wholesome series of images capturing the excitement of guests at the wedding.
Liz said: “I was overwhelmed with honor – my sister is my best friend, to be honored in that way, it was a dedication that is impossible to even put into words.
“I will be grateful about this for the rest of my life.”
Madison added: “After I went into hospital, I called my mom who was definitely emotional, but I reassured her she needed to be there for Liz.
“We had decided early on that if we went into labor, nobody else would come to the hospital because Liz deserved to have everyone there for her wedding.
“I didn’t want anything to take away from her wedding day.
“[At the time of the speeches] nobody knew her name was really Elizabeth yet.
“At some point after my speech was played, Liz texted me and said she couldn’t stop crying and I remember texting her back saying something along the lines of, ‘Stop crying and get on the dance floor.’
“I just really wanted her to enjoy every minute of her wedding day.
“When I first watched the video of Liz’s reaction, I cried.
“Seeing Liz and Keana both sitting there looking stunning, it was another moment I couldn’t believe I had missed.
“But being able to watch Liz and Keana’s reactions was definitely special, and not something I would have been able to experience the same way had I been standing there in front of them.
“It was all just really special and surreal.”
