Sioux Falls wedding photo goes viral
Maddie Peschong only took up wedding photography in the last year, but a photo she shot has gained national attention.
The Sioux Falls resident photographed a high school friend's wedding at Rustic Hills Community Church in Sioux Falls on Saturday. One of the moments she captured was of the bride, Valerie Parrott, sharing a moment with her service dog, Bella.
Nothing could have prepared the part-time photographer for the public response to the photo of the bride and tutu-clad dog.
"I think on Sunday I posted a couple of preview photos," Peschong said. "(On Thursday), I woke up and had a few messages from people saying it was on the front page of Reddit."
Peschong said she and Parrott have been contacted by national news outlets like Huffington Post and Good Morning America, asking if they could use the photo and interview them. By Thursday evening, the photo had been viewed over 1.5 million times on Imgur and had been upvoted more than 5,600 times on Reddit.
Peschong works full-time as an account coordinator at Click Rain, a Sioux Falls advertising agency. She does portrait and wedding photography as a passion and side business. Having lots of people view her work was a new experience for her, Peschong said.
"Suddenly, you're thrust into the spotlight and you didn't ask for it," she said. "It's just crazy."
As for why the photo has been so popular online, bride Parrott said she thinks it shows how much she and Bella rely on each other, even at her wedding.
"I think it's had such a positive effect because it captures such an amazing bond between a service dog and her handler," Parrott said. "Without Bella, my life wouldn't be the same, so it just made sense that she would be a part of mine and my husband's big day."