Copper + Pine photographer Mikayla Miller held a giveaway for a free photo session.
A bride named Brittany was the lucky winner, but she didn’t want a photo shoot with her groom. Instead, Brittany had penned an emotional submission to Mikayla about her grandma, Ellen.
“My grandma was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer last year before Christmas,” Brittany explained. “The cancer was eating her bones, which had caused her to have extreme pain and break bones in her back easily.”
When Mikayla read the submission, she knew Brittany had to be given the photo session. “Everybody who entered had such beautiful ideas, but as soon as this popped up on my page, I knew it was the one,” she wrote on Facebook.
Mikayla, Brittany, and Grandma went to a field by Brittany’s home to do the shoot on June 16, 2017. But the photographer and the bride had a big surprise in store for Ellen. Instead of just shooting the pair in their normal clothes, Brittany wanted to show her grandma her wedding dress and have Mikayla capture the moment on her camera.
As a result, the photographer snapped beautiful photos of the pair that show just how strong a granddaughter and grandmother bond is.
Keep scrolling to see the heartwarming photos.
Brittany wanted to win this photo shoot for her grandma, who is battling stage 4 cancer.
“After having a conversation over the phone with her, she just cried to me about how much she wants to be able to dance at my wedding,” Brittany told the photographer.
Brittany’s wedding was set for September 16, 2017, and with her grandma’s diagnosis, the bride didn’t want her grandma to be sad about not being able to dance.
“I reassured her I know this is simply a bump in the road and I know she will do just that,” Brittany told the photographer.
That’s why she wanted to set up this special photo shoot.
The pair read letters that they had written each other. They laughed and cried while Mikayla shot photos.
“I’d like to capture through pictures the love I have for her, the love she gives me, and life is too special and short when you have special people in your life to take that time with them for granted,” Brittany told Mikayla.
Brittany also wanted to reveal her dress to Ellen before her big wedding day.
While many photographers capture the exact moment a groom sees his bride, this photographer snapped a picture of the moment Ellen saw her granddaughter.
“Her grandma’s reaction when she finally saw, was the sweetest thing, she just held her hands to her face,” Mikayla told Love What Matters.
Brittany can be seen laughing at her grandma’s shocked reaction to being surprised by her granddaughter in her gown.
“I am so thrilled to have been able to give them something that they can cherish for the rest of their lives,” Mikayla wrote on Facebook.
The photographer captured so many amazing moments for the pair — including that dance Ellen was so upset over not being able to do on the wedding day.
“The dance that they shared together was probably the thing that stuck out the most,” Mikayla told Love What Matters. “It was the only time during the session where Brittany and Grandma really, really cried together.”
While Ellen and Brittany shared this special moment, they were luckily also able to dance together again on her wedding day three months later!
Mikayla snapped photos as Brittany and Ellen danced. “We danced together to ‘I’m Gonna Love You Through It’ by Martina McBride,” Brittany told Love What Matters.
Brittany will cherish these photos for the rest of her life.
“I have never become so choked up so often throughout a session,” Mikayla wrote on Facebook. “I couldn’t believe how perfectly it all came together.”
We are so happy that Brittany and her grandma were able to make such special memories together during this photo shoot!
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