Marine Wedding Photo Goes Viral

A marine’s wedding photo goes viral after it touched so many viewers.

Us Magazine is reporting that the “photo goes viral” was taken before the wedding of Marine corporal Caleb Earwood to his fiancée, Maggie Edwards, was being readied at Camp Daniel Boone in Canton, North Carolina. As Edwards, 21, was preparing, she suddenly stopped and called for Earwood to come to the cabin where she was preparing. “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,” said Caleb, 21.

Earwood arrived at the cabin, and was ready to pray with his soon-to-be wife. However, The two did not want to jinx the wedding by seeing each other pre-nuptials. So, Earwood stood outside, while Edwards remained inside the doorway, the couple holding hands, bowing their heads and praying. The scene was captured by North Carolina wedding photographer Dwayne Schmidt.

Maggie, who met Earwood while in high school, was taken aback by Caleb’s devotion before the ceremony. “When I first grabbed his hand, he was shaking really bad, so I knew he was really nervous,” the new Mrs. Earwood said. “It relieved me to know the person I was getting ready to marry felt the same way about God.”

Schmidt posted the picture on his Facebook page that Saturday night. By Sunday morning, the photo goes viral with 500 likes. When a local television station picked up the story, the photo goes viral to over 50,000 likes. “We’re thankful that our picture is able to bless so many people and touch that many hearts,” said Caleb.

ABC News is reporting that when the wedding party and the photographer heard about the wishes of the couple, they hid the bride-to-be in a room until the groom-to-be arrived. “They hid me in a room and he stepped up on the stairwell and he stuck his hand out and I grabbed his hand,” Maggie said.

“As soon as their hands touched he started getting emotional,” Schmidt said. “The whole room was full of emotion. I tried not to cry and focus on what I was doing.”

The “photo goes viral” shows, as Maggie tried to hold back tears, Caleb prayed to God for their marriage to be strong, and for their marriage to serve as an example for other young couples, Schmidt said.

“There were no dry eyes in the room,” she said.

“So many people are emailing me,” Schmidt said, “saying thank you for sharing this. It’s what America is supposed to be about.”

The couple is currently honeymooning. They will return to live in Jacksonville, North Carolina, at Camp Lejeune, where Caleb is stationed.

[Images courtesy of Dwayne Schmidt]