A bride and her brother had a private first look after he couldn't attend her destination wedding

"Our two best friends have been together for 11 years," Jackie Sweeney, 27, told Insider of herself and her husband, 28.

In 2017, sparks flew between the pair, and they decided to start a romance of their own. 

The couple is based in Niagara-Wheatfield, New York, where Jackie is a teacher at Makowski Early Childhood Center and Christopher is the founder of ProFuel Nutrition. 

They planned a destination wedding in Riviera Maya, Mexico, for April 12, 2022. 

Jackie Sweeney told Insider she had been dreaming of a destination wedding on the beach for years.

The wedding was everything the Sweeneys wanted — aside from one thing. 

Sweeney and Johnston, 18, have been close since Johnston was born. 

As Sweeney told Insider, Johnston has Down syndrome and a heart defect, which he has had six surgeries for in his life.

"He's basically a miracle," Sweeney said of her brother. "He is just super loving. I always say he's my favorite person."

"He gets very excited for everyone around him," she said. "He's very uplifting, so when hears anything good is going on in my life, he is over the moon excited."

Sweeney planned to do a first look and first dance with Johnston at her wedding.

Because the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, there was a risk Johnston could contract the virus when traveling to the wedding.

As the event got closer, the risk of something happening to Johnston when he was far away from his doctors felt too great, so he didn't attend the wedding.

But Sweeney didn't want to miss out on experiencing any wedding joy with her brother.

Sweeney reached out to Caitlin Reilley, a New York-based photographer she had worked with in the past, to do the first look shoot, as well as take some photos of her and her husband. 

The Sweeneys, Johnston, and Reilley went to Woodlawn Beach in Buffalo, New York, to take photos.

She got her wedding dress from Blue by Enzoani dry-cleaned and had her hair and makeup done.

"It was a whole ordeal, but it was so worth it," she said.

Johnston also wore wedding clothes, which Sweeney said he was excited to show her. 

"He just kept saying, 'Wow, Jackie,' and telling me I looked pretty and asking me how he looked," she told Insider of the moment Johnston saw her.

"I just wanna cry," she said of how she feels thinking about the first look. "It was a moment I've always wanted."

"I just felt so happy. That missing piece of my wedding was complete," she added.

The pair danced to "Better Together" by Jack Johnson, who also sings "Upside Down," which was featured in the "Curious George" movie.

Sweeney said her brother loves "Curious George," so the song choice felt right.

"I was just bawling my eyes out for hours and all the next day," she said of her reaction to the photos.

"Every time I look at them, I still tear up," she added.

Reilley posted a Reel of photos from the shoot on Instagram, and it has 1.2 million views to date.

"It was insane. I'm still so surprised by it," Sweeney said. "We weren't expecting that."

"I'm not someone with a ton of followers or anything," she added. "We just did it for me and him. So it was shocking when all of that happened."

"I truly feel so blessed to have been a part of this special moment that they will remember forever," Reilley told Insider.

"From the moment I met Gabe, he radiated happiness and a zest for life that I have never seen before. His positivity inspired me not only that day, but every day since," she added.

She said getting to "have that moment where I'm the bride and I have my little brother with me" was the best part of the whole experience. 

You can see more of Reilley's work on Instagram.