Before heading down the aisle to marry the love of her life Danny Benton in Montreal on June 18, 2016, the couple’s exclusively breastfed 9 month-old daughter, Gemma, served as one of the flower girls.
Torino-Benton told SELF that Gemma had a quick feeding while she was getting ready for the big day.
But because of the noon wedding, Gemma missed her 12 o’clock nap. “Which was a bad choice,” Torino-Benton says.
When the bride got to the Resurrection of Our Lord Church for the ceremony, Gemma seemed fine.
“She went down the aisle with my other daughter Olivia—they were both flower girls,” Torino-Benton says. “My mom took Gemma in her lap and she was OK.”
But then she started fussing 15 minutes into the hour-long Catholic ceremony, Gemma started crying.
“I couldn’t really concentrate and I was just looking back at her, because I don’t let her cry ever, so it was painful,” she said. “I looked at my mom kind of saying, ‘Give her to me’ and she did.”
And then, without hesitation, Torino-Benton started to breastfeed Gemma during the ceremony.
“I look over at Danny, and he just smiled and I fed her,” she said. “It was really discreet. My dress was strapless so I was able to pull it down without anyone really noticing. [Gemma] fell asleep probably within five or 10 minutes, and I passed her back to my father-in law and she slept through the remainder of the ceremony.”
While the motherly moment might have been discreet to the other guests, Torino-Benton’s wedding photographer, Lana Nimmons, caught the touching event on camera.
The Tuesday after the wedding, Torino-Benton posted the photo of her breastfeeding at the altar to a breastfeeding support group onFacebook, captioning the pic, “That moment when you’re getting married and your baby gets hungry.” Now, the photo’s gone viral, with more than 7,000 likes.
“It got way more response than I thought,” Torino-Benton remarked. “It’s really cool. I’m really proud of my photo.”
The feedback from the image was mainly positive.
“If I could breastfeed in a Catholic church during a wedding, maybe other women will feel more comfortable to do the same just about anywhere,” she added. “You should be able to feed your baby no matter where you are, I don’t think anywhere should be considered inappropriate.”
And that image on that page empowered at least 12 other women to share publicly on the page their photoblog themselves breastfeeding in their wedding dresses.
Image Credit: Lana Nimmons Photography