Hannah Darr and Layne Meriwether were supposed to get married on Saturday June 17. But on February 5, Hannah received devastating news of her fiancé, that he died in a car accident just 4 months before their wedding day. “I didn’t just lose Layne,” Hannah, of Fairview, Oklahoma, told HuffPost. “I lost my very best friend and my soulmate. I’ve been devastated that I don’t get to marry him, have our big wedding we both planned and spend forever with him, starting a family together and growing old together.”
Not long after the tragedy, Hannah went to her wedding photographer, Holly Gannett and asked for a wedding shoot in her wedding dress to honor Layne. “Even though I will never get a wedding with him, I wanted to at least have a picture of him with me in my dress to honor and remember him as my future husband. The shoot also gave me some closure and helped me accept the fact that I won’t get a wedding with him, but I am thankful I at least have pictures with him. The pictures are something I will cherish forever.”
On May 31, Hannah went to her family’s land, the same place where Layne proposed her to spend the lifetime. She wore her allure couture gown and posed for beautiful but heartbreaking pictures. It is the same place where they took their engagement photos. Holly even Photoshop Layne into some of the images for giving a tribute to the couple’s love.
When Hannah first saw the photos from the shoot, she told that they “took her breath away. I couldn’t stop crying because they were so perfect and precious to me. They perfectly captured our love, but also my story of pain and sadness, but also joy and peace. The pictures are better than I could have ever dreamed.”
On June 8, Hannah posted pictures and story on ‘Love What Matters’ Facebook Page and the post received 17,000 likes, 485 comments and 1,547 shares. In the post, Hannah has mentioned many of her feelings and dreams she got after Layne’s death. “I had a dream I was wandering around in my wedding dress completely lost and helpless with tears spilling down my face, blurring my vision. My vision cleared a bit and I saw my sweet Layne walking towards me with his radiant smile. He wrapped his arms around me and said, ‘Baby girl, quit crying! You look beautiful. You are so strong. I know you can do this!!’ Earlier that night I had cried myself to sleep because all I wanted was a chance to marry my best friend.. and then I had that dream and it gave me such peace. When I saw this picture Holly Gannett captured, I instantly thought of that dream and tears streamed down my face.” She even started a blog, ‘Love for Layne’ where she writes about their love and relationship and her healing journey.
