Today marks my 2 year wedding anniversary, and I thought I’d share a post on how my brother made my special day extra special.

After I got engaged I wondered what role Dylan would play in my wedding. I didn’t know if he would be able to be part of it. But, I’m extremely attached to all 4 of my siblings so it was important to me that he be there to share in my life-changing event. Naturally, I made him my ring-bearer.

Leading up to my wedding I created a social story and made sure he read through it each day, in preparation. The more you prepare a child for what is going to happen, and what is expected of them, the less anxiety they have surrounding the event, and the higher the chances are for success. Then, my family had him practice wearing his tuxedo, which he hated at first.  We systematically shaped his tuxedo wearing behavior by having him wear parts of it at a time to earn trips to his favorite theme park. I even bought him reinforcers for the day of the wedding: cotton candy, gumballs, and his favorite hand-soaps (<—- I have no idea why he loved soaps, but he did).  And, I insisted that he be a part of the rehearsal, so that he could get in-vivo practice, and experience reinforcement for his good behavior to make him more likely to repeat that good behavior the day of the wedding.

I brought a copy of the social story on the night of the rehearsal, and he was absolutely obsessed. He loved it! I made sure to give him tons of verbal praise (and some edible reinforcers too) for his behavior that night. He did so great! He waited his turn. He walked perfectly. He stood nicely. He was compliant. PERFECT!

Dylan reading his social story.

The day of my wedding was finally here…Dyl wore his tux without protest. He stood nicely and smiled for pictures. He waited for his turn to walk. And, (unbeknownst to me at the time) as he made his way down the aisle he stopped to try and blow out a few candles. (You may recall from my previous post, he LOVES anything birthday related, and I guess candles remind him of birthdays 🙂 ).  It made for a very cute memory for those who saw it. Then after the ceremony was over, I made sure to give him tons of praise for how great he did.

As planned, Dylan left before the reception began. As he was walking out with my step dad I yelled across the chapel to him, “Dylan”. He turned around and I told him, “You did a good job today, buddy. I love you.” Then I blew him a kiss… he blew me one back, and he skipped away.

Ah, to reminisce… Brings back such special memories. I am so grateful my little D could be part of my wedding day. There is nothing more wonderful than having all the people I love there with me on my wedding day.

One final pep-talk.

Me with my ring-bearer.