The Reason This Image of a Little Girl Sobbing Was the Wedding Photographer's Most Important Shot

When Jenni and Timmy Gibson got married in May, they didn't realize that one of the wedding ceremony's most beloved memories wouldn't even include them. As the pair exchanged vows, their 6-year-old daughter Lexi stood close by, sobbing uncontrollably.

"It took everything in me not to pick her up and hug her!"

"I could tell when I showed up that day, how important this was to the kids," Iowa wedding photographer Missie Lafrenz told POPSUGAR. The couple, who had been together since they were 16 years old, had three children together — Lexi, 8-year-old daughter Riley, and 2-year-old son Lincoln. "The two older girls were in awe of their mom and just kept hugging her."

As the ceremony was underway, Missie noticed Lexi begin to cry and knew it was worth taking the focus off of the couple to point her lens on the girl.

"My job as the wedding photographer is to capture all those details that the bride misses, and Jenni would have missed this moment if I didn't capture it," she told us. "It was an innocent, sweet, organic moment coming from a little girl who was just as involved in the wedding as her mom. And I just love the raw emotion coming from her . . . even though it took everything in me not to pick her up and hug her!"

In photos of the sweet moment, Lexi stood alongside her friend, who at one point consoled her with an arm around her shoulder, and her older sister. Once Jenni finally saw the images, she was truly touched.

"I was overwhelmed with emotions," she told People. "I didn't know it was that important to her. She felt so happy that day, so it made me feel like I made the best decision of our lives."

Read on for more of the emotional moments from the wedding that was truly a family affair.