What’s supposed to be the happiest day of your life can sometimes take an unexpected turn. For Chicago bride Kelly Stech, her $50,000 “dream day” became a medical nightmare when she woke up unable to smile on her wedding day.

“I felt like it was the happiest day of my life, but I didn’t want people to think I looked miserable because I couldn’t smile on my wedding day,” Stech, 30, told Kennedy News. “It’s hard to believe this happened.”

In early October 2023, just days before tying the knot with her husband Benjamin, Stech began to feel unwell. “Exactly a week before the wedding, I was starting to feel under the weather. The following day, at work, I felt like I had an ear infection coming on,” she recalled. “It hurt to swallow, and I felt a popping sensation in my ear.”

Doctors initially told her everything looked fine, but her condition quickly worsened. “I woke up that Monday, and my ear was completely swollen and blistered. I went back to urgent care and they put me on a steroid and antibiotic for cellulitis,” she said. “I woke up the next day, and the pain was worse.”

“I was vomiting non-stop, I couldn’t keep anything down,” she remembered. “My whole body felt like it had been hit by a truck. Then I was lying on the couch later on and making silly faces on Snapchat and couldn’t feel the right side of my face moving.”

By the time of her rehearsal dinner, Stech was in the hospital. Doctors first thought she had Bell’s Palsy, but she was later diagnosed with Ramsay Hunt syndrome — the same rare condition pop star Justin Bieber battled in 2022. It’s a neurological disorder caused by shingles affecting the facial nerves, often leading to paralysis and hearing problems.

“My wedding stress definitely caused this,” she admitted. “The financial stress of it definitely takes a toll.”

Even with her health in crisis, Stech refused to cancel her wedding. She reduced her guest list from 200 to 50 and moved forward with her big day.

“I barely slept the whole night. There was barely any movement in my mouth,” she explained. “I could smile without teeth, but if I tried to smile with teeth, it was definitely crooked. I wanted to go ahead with the wedding either way.”

Her bridal party and makeup artist did their best to cover up the paralysis, but as the day wore on, things got worse. “I couldn’t go around taking photos anymore, my eyelid was paralysed, I couldn’t blink,” she said. “I was holding a handkerchief up to my eye to keep it shut. Everybody kept saying, ‘Sorry you’re going through this.’”

“I couldn’t drink any alcohol. I was in so much pain and so tired,” she added.

Thankfully, Stech has since regained full movement in her face, and now, eight months pregnant, she looks back with perspective. “We got to experience first-hand early on what ‘in sickness and health’ actually meant,” she said.

Now she’s urging other brides not to let stress ruin what should be a joyful occasion. “I tell friends stressed about wedding planning, be grateful you’re in this position and don’t let it stress you out, you don’t want to end up paralysed on your wedding day,” she warned. “Don’t stress about your shoes or the weather.”

For Stech and her husband, their love story proved that even in the hardest moments, commitment, support, and perspective matter more than perfection.