Colorado bride surprises guests by walking down the aisle after two years in wheelchair

Amber McConkey had one non-negotiable for her wedding day: she was going to walk down the aisle.

McConkey, 38, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2015 and has relied on a wheelchair for the past two years, surprised the majority of her 125 guests when she stood and walked 68 feet to meet groom Brandon Goodrich at the Pinecrest Weddings and Event Center in Palmer Lake, Colorado on April 25. Supported by her father on one side and her brother on the other, she made the trip as “Tangled Up in You” by Aaron Lewis played, drawing tears from the wedding party, the couple’s three children and nearly everyone in the room.

“It’s not the prettiest thing ever, but it was perfect for me, and I did it, and that’s all that matters,” McConkey told PEOPLE, which first reported the story. “Everybody was crying, everybody was just looking at me. I was laughing, I was crying, I was awkwardly making jokes because that’s just who I am.”

Only close family members, the wedding party and vendors knew the plan. McConkey had spent months in physical therapy and trained with a functional electrical stimulation device to rebuild the endurance needed for the walk. Goodrich, who has been with McConkey for about five and a half years and is stepfather to her son, 12, and two daughters, ages 10 and 8, saw a preview during the rehearsal but still broke down at the ceremony. “She said she was going to do it, and she did it,” he said.

McConkey also stood for the couple’s first dance to Brantley Gilbert’s “Fall Into Me” before tiring by the end of the reception. She continues working with a physical therapist in Colorado Springs and says the wedding was only the beginning. “I have three kids and I’m not giving up,” she said. “I’m going to walk.”