Losing someone is one of the hardest things that we can go through, but, often, there can be little moments of hope that pull us through. And one family recently experienced the most heartbreaking, yet beautiful, moment during a tribute to a young lady who sadly passed away.
In 2014, Vanessa Van Gorder tragically died in a car crash and never got to see her brother walk down the aisle… not in the flesh, anyway.
During a tribute to her during the service, the most amazing thing happened, and it all started with some butterflies.
The best thing? The incredible tribute was captured in a series of photos.
Just wait until you see how beautiful they are…
We often admire their colorful and detailed wings.
But they’re not just known for their wings…
In Christianity, butterflies are believed to be a symbol of hope and are said to embody the spirits of loved ones who have passed away.
And that’s exactly what one family did, but it had an unexpected outcome…
The beautiful creatures didn’t fly away upon release. Instead, they perched on guests’ shoulders and clothes, and, most poignantly, clung to Vanessa’s parents.
The beautiful snaps were captured by photographer, Jessica Manns.
After posting the image, Jessica wrote “That’s a real butterfly on his finger. This is probably the most emotional thing I’ve witnessed at a wedding.”
In fact, not only did the butterfly land on Scott’s finger, but it stayed there for the rest of the ceremony, too.
“The groom’s sister tragically passed away in a car accident a few years prior during the Christmas holiday. To honor her, the groom’s parents released butterflies during the ceremony in her honor. There’s a common belief that our loved ones visit us sometimes as butterflies. As they released the butterflies, they wouldn’t fly off,” she wrote.
“They clung all over them and even stayed on their bodies the entire ceremony and well afterwards into cocktail hour.”
This stunning shot captured the moment that the butterflies clung to Lydia’s dress as the pair walked down the aisle.
Onlookers cried as they watched the moving tribute unfold.
In particular, the fluttery creatures stayed close to Vanessa’s parents, Scott and Elizabeth, throughout the ceremony.
Elizabeth looks content as the butterflies cling to her shoulder.
As well as accompanying her down the aisle, one particular butterfly managed to get into the barn and perch on a strand of her hair during the speeches, in a breathtaking moment captured in this snap.
“A few hours later during the speeches, another butterfly somehow got inside the barn and landed on Lydia’s neck and remained there for all the speeches. Unreal,” wrote Jessica.
Bride, Lydia, publically thanked Jessica on Facebook for taking the beautiful snaps.
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“Thank you again for capturing such a special and loving moment during our wedding,” she wrote.
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“Vanessa was with us there and throughout the night. I relive my wedding day every time I look at your photos. You captured every moment so beautifully.”
One user wrote that she believed her late father came to comfort her in the form of a butterfly.
She wrote: “After my dad passed away we were sitting around the pool that he dearly loved and there was a blue and black butterfly that kept landing on me and let me hold it in my hand.
“It was there most of the day and wouldn’t leave me. ‘It was just there that day, never seen it again. Call me crazy but I believe he was trying to comfort me.”