The photo shows U.S. Marine Corps Corporal Caleb Earwood, praying with his bride-to-be Maggie Edwards (now Earwood), shortly before their wedding ceremony on Saturday, 25 May, in Asheville, North Carolina.
The image has captured the hearts of millions of Americans who see it as a reflection of the essence of traditional American Christian culture.
The couple prayed moments before their wedding service, keeping their eyes closed and taking care to position themselves looking away from one another to avoid breaking the tradition that they should not see each other before the wedding ceremony.
When Caleb requested to be allowed to pray with his bride before the wedding, members of the family and the photographer took him to the cabin where his bride was preparing for the wedding service. With his eyes closed to avoid seeing his bride before the ceremony, they guided his hands around a corner so he could hold hands with her.
Caleb, 21, stood on the staircase while Maggie, 22, stood against the wall around the corner to avoid seeing Caleb. But they reached around the corner and grabbed each other’s hands. Looking away from one another but holding hands, Caleb prayed aloud as Maggie struggled to hold back her tears.
“They hid me in a room and he stepped up on the stairwell and he stuck his hand out and I grabbed his hand. As soon as their hands touched he started getting emotional,” Maggie told ABC News.
She said that Caleb’s concern about saying a prayer before the ceremony strengthened her confidence about marrying him.
She said, “When I first grabbed his hand, he was shaking really bad, so I knew he was really nervous. It relieved me to know the person I was getting ready to marry felt the same way about God.”
Caleb told Today.com that he prayed, thanking God for giving him a beautiful and intelligent wife.
“We were about to take our first steps in life together, and we didn’t want to take a step without it being in God’s will. I prayed to God for my beautiful and intelligent wife that he blessed me with and the amazing family I was marrying into,” he said.
He also prayed for a strong and stable marriage.
The wedding photographer Dwayne Schmidt, who captured the emotional moment, shared it on Facebook later in the day. He posted the photo only to show his day’s work, but it went viral, receiving nearly 30,000 likes in the first two days after it was posted to social media.
“I have photographed a lot of weddings. This has to be one of the best things I have ever got to see much less photograph,” he wrote. “The whole room was full of emotion. I tried not to cry and focus on what I was doing. So many people are emailing me, saying thank you for sharing this. It’s what America is supposed to be about.”
The wedding ceremony for the couple was performed at the outdoor pavilion at Camp Daniel Boone in Canton, North Carolina, according to Today.com. Unfortunately, Schmidt was unable to attend the wedding ceremony because he had to undergo an emergency surgery to remove a kidney stone. He only managed to be present to snap the viral photo.
The bride’s mother Lisa Helton Edwards, also shared the photo on her Facebook page, commenting, “It’s beautiful up there, you just got to dress it up some to make it pretty for a wedding.”
Many social media users praised the couple for their faith.
One social media user commented, “I almost cried looking at this pic and don’t even know this couple! Wow! Precious! Always put God first!”
Others praised the photographer’s skills.
“Beautiful picture. It brought tears to my eyes. The bride is showing some raw emotion and love. You captured how affected she was by his words,” a social media user commented.
The couple admitted they had not suspected that the photo would go viral online. But Caleb said, “We’re thankful that our picture is able to bless so many people and touch that many hearts.”
Caleb and Maggie grew up together in Asheville and began dating during high school. They are now on their honeymoon in Dollywood, Tennessee. They will move to Jacksonville, North Carolina, close to Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville where Caleb is serving in the military.