Lucy Edwards got married to her fiance Ollie Cave in London on 31 August. She took to TikTok to share what the ceremony looked like and explain her decision to have the groom and all of her guests blindfolded. “I’m blind and I blindfolded my sighted husband and guests when I walked down the aisle…this is their reaction when they lived a moment in my shoes,” text across the screen read.
The video goes on to show Edwards having her father walk her down the aisle and placing her hand in Caves. As the guests sat down and removed their blindfolds, Cave kept his on as he began to touch Edwards’ wedding dress to feel the different textures and understand why she picked that specific dress. “He was able to feel my wedding dress in the exact way that I felt it when I first had it on,” she wrote in the TikTok’s caption.
"This was such an important experience for us both even though Ollie isn’t blind, but we thought it was really important for him and all of my guests to experience what it’s like for me in the most important moment of our life so far," Edwards continued in the caption.
She explained in an interview with Insider that she lost her sight completely at 17 years old when she had been dating Cave for two months. She previously shared on TikTok that this was due to a rare genetic condition called incontinentia pigmenti.
“I never envisaged that I would walk down the aisle to Ollie as a blind person,” Edwards told the outlet, explaining that she previously faced uncertainty about whether her condition would result in blindness or not.
When she had thought about walking down the aisle, she felt uncomfortable about people lovingly staring at her without her being able to look back at them in the way she once wanted to.
@lucyedwards So this is the moment that I blindfolded all my guests, and I walked down the aisle on my #wedding day… Myself and Ollie thought it would be a really good idea to blindfold him as well, as when I got to the end, and my dad passed my hand to Ollie he was able to feel my wedding dress in the exact way that I felt it when I first had it on. This was such an important experience for us both even though Ollie isn’t blind, but we thought it was really important for him and all of my guests to experience what it’s like for me in the most important moment of our life so far. As you can see me, Ollie and my dad are really struggling to hold it together. It was such an emotional moment and one that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so lucky that I have a husband that accepts me for exactly who I am my disability and everything. The whole me. I walked down the aisle to arrival of the birds by @The Cinematic Orchestra, as this is the song at the end of one of my favourite films, the Theory of Everything. Stephen Hawking has been a massive role model in my life and I always cry at the end of that movie at his final monologue. I really believe in the philosophy that we are all just small beings and atoms on this massive planet and Stephen taught me that you can love and hate your disability equally, and that’s a truly beautiful thing. It’s a sense of self that I’ve had to work on and I felt truly independent when walking down the aisle with my dad to this song. This is quite an emotional and raw moment to share with you guys, but I thought it was so important as it’s not a typical way that a bride walks down the aisle but it was my way. Just remember you are so special and you don’t have to follow traditions if you don’t want to. Our wedding day is about you and the person that you love and every moment needs to feel right for you. Thank you to the amazing harpist @Amie True Music (gifted) for playing the main melody along with the 3D audio speakers from Delta Live that we had up the aisle so we could have immersive sound. Ollie made an arrangement so I could hear where I was. Every step I took the music evolved and so did the flowers! A truly blind experience!
♬ Arrival of the Birds (From "The Crimson Wing Mystery of the Flamingos") - The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
“So I thought, right, I know no one does this, but let’s blindfold all my guests, and we can all not see each other and we can all live in this beautiful moment together,” she said.
The moment was so well received that many guests came up to her after the ceremony to say it was their favourite part, according to Edwards. Her TikTok viewers agreed, as the video had been viewed over six million times since being uploaded on 10 September.
“I love that he’s crying without even seeing how beautiful she looks,” one person said of her husband, Cave.
“What a truly beautiful moment, something to treasure always. Thank you for sharing this with us,” another commenter wrote.
Edwards decided to post the moment on TikTok to show others that sight isn’t needed to enjoy large moments like a wedding day.
“I wanted to show that you don’t need eyesight to have vision. You don’t need eyesight to have a lovely time, to experience the milestones in our lives. You know, I’m not going to have eyesight when I give birth to my children, but that’s okay and I’ve come to terms with that,” she said.
The Independent has contacted Edwards for comment.
