Parents organize photoshoot for girl, 5, who wants to marry her best friend before her fourth heart surgery

A 5-year-old girl, who has had 3 open heart surgeries and was getting ready for her fourth, wished to be a princess and marry her best friend before her next surgery, so her parents organized to make her dream come true.

Sophia Chiappalone has been through a lot in her short life and still has more to overcome. She was born with several heart defects and is scheduled for a fourth open heart surgery in January 2018. She has a best friend called Hunter Laferriere, 6, whom she first met in preschool.
As she prepared for her upcoming surgery, the little girl made it known she wanted to marry Hunter before that happens, so a family friend and pro photographer decided to make that happen by organizing a photoshoot with Sophia and Hunter in wedding attire. Hunter was informed about it and he happily played along and posed as the groom in the photo series.

Late last month, photographer Marisa Balletti-Lavoie of Sassy Mouth Photography did the faux wedding photo shoot at City Park in Meriden, Connecticut. A local bridal shop supplied a flower girl’s dress to be used as a wedding dress and a veil to complete Sophia’s look.

Sophia's heart condition keeps deteriorating by the day and her parents are worried this may be her only chance to ever wear a wedding dress.

Sophia’s mother, Kristy Somerset-Chiappalone, told ABC News: "I’m trying to be strong for Sophia. In reality, she’s slipping into heart failure more and more, and this might be the only time I ever see her in a wedding dress. That was going through my head."

The photos immediately went viral after they were shared and Hunter's mother has since set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise donations for Sophia’s medical treatments.