The Singing Bride Becomes an Accidental Viral Hit

We've seen back flipping best men and shimmying fathers of the bride. But a singing bride? It's about time. Marie Carr, 25, opted out of a bouquet and a traditional 'Here comes the bride' refrain in favor of a Christina Aguilera ballad and a microphone. Now she's the biggest veiled video star, at least this week.

The amateur singer, who's best known for belting it out in showers and cars, serenaded her groom, Devin, with Aguilera's "The Right Man," on her wedding day. The uplifting idea came to her as a result of earlier tragedy.

"My dad died in a car wreck when I was 13 so I knew no one would be walking me down the aisle," Marie told Yahoo! Shine in a phone interview Monday. "I thought that [Christina Aguilera] song would be perfect because it's about walking by yourself but also walking toward the love of your life."

If there's any question whether her performance comes from the heart, consider this: The couple, who met as Miami University students, were wed only months after their first introduction. "We knew we were meant for each other," says Marie.

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Part of their connection stems from childhood struggles. Devin was hit by a truck at age 11 and has suffered serious brain trauma that's affected his vocal abilities to this day. Marie, had lost her father in a car accident as a teenager. Then, a month before her wedding she also lost her grandmother to cancer.

"I had told my grandmother I was going to sing, and even after she was diagnosed with cancer she was telling all the doctors about my plans and was so excited," recalls Marie, "so it was difficult to not have her there."

The entire affair was a collage of sentimental sounds.

"We had some audio tracks of her dad speaking from video tapes he took when she was still in school, so we played his voice before [Marie] walked out to sing," Devin explains.

The combination of hearing her father's voice ("it was extremely difficult") and approaching her future husband made for the kind of emotive performance no rehearsal can prepare for. It was also meant to be a private moment, and it was, until last week.

Almost a year after the ceremony, the footage on videographer Petite Productions' YouTube site got picked up by international news outlets. More than 350,000 views later, the Carrs are cautiously accepting that other once in a lifetime occurrence: viral video fame.

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"This was not meant to be a viral video," says Marie. "I'm a very private person, we didn't post a link to the video or even talk about it after the wedding. The only people who knew about actually were the ones who actually came to the wedding." That is, until last week.

The attention, the comments from strangers, the public judgment of a private moment. It's all a little much for the Cincinnati based newlyweds, who just had their first child, daughter Eden, 3 months ago. "Some people thought it was an act and a publicity stunt," explains Marie, who was wary of doing more interviews. For the record, it wasn't.

If Marie's singing seems fraught with emotion, it's because it is. "We both come from pretty hurt places," explains Devin.

Adds Marie: "Another way to put it is that we've had to overcome a lot to get this place so for us it was a pretty magical day."

But was there an encore? "At the reception I sang "Endless Love" with my father in law, but my mike wasn't working so all you see is him telling the DeeJay to fix the sound."

Unfortunately, Marie has no plans to post that video as a follow up. The new mom, who's typically shy when she isn't singing to her groom, says she's done with viral fame. "I'm just trying to process all the attention," says Marie. "So yeah, this is enough for me."

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