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RIPLEY, Tennessee — A woman from Tennessee is receiving backlash from around the world after she attached her newborn baby to her wedding dress and dragged her down the aisle.
Shona Carter-Brooks married Jonathan Brooks last month outside Memphis, Tennessee. In an effort to include their new daughter, Aubrey, Carter-Brooks sewed her into the train of her Vera Wang wedding dress.
The Internet has been in a collective uproar ever since photos of Aubrey on the train have made its way around the web. Carter-Brooks took to her Facebook account to defend her decision.
“Our one-month-old was awake and well-secured on my train,” Carter-Brooks wrote. "Most important while y'all got ya feelings in us we had our hearts in Christ which covers all!!"
Carter-Brooks' Facebook friends, pastor and wedding planner applauded the decision.
"I saw the pics and everything was beautiful and I loved the idea of your baby on your dress that was something new that no one would have thought of,” wrote one friend. Another friend who was at the wedding said she was "moved to tears" by the sight.
Wedding planner Kaye Jordon claims the idea of attaching babies to a mother's gown is not new and the decision was inspired by an Annie Lee painting.
“This action has significant historical value and indicates the dedication of her mother (and father) toward caring for her child and family,” Jordon wrote on Carter-Brooks' Facebook wall. “We throughout history have worked hard to do whatever necessary to take care of our own. A GOOD mother takes her child wherever she goes, even down the aisle.”
Pastor Iran Yarbrough, who married the couple, told Localmemphis.com that by the time Carter-Brooks made it to the altar, the baby was safe in someone else's hands.
Comments on the Internet have ranged from worrying about the baby's safety to calling for the parents to be reported to Child Protection Services.
The Tennessee Department of Child and Family Services told Localmemphis.com that as of Monday afternoon, no complaints have been filed. Vera Wang denied the dress was part of any of her collections.
