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Home / Lifestyle

Bride left unable to see after being poisoned by wedding flowers

NZ Herald
12 Oct, 2020 06:23 PM3 mins to read

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Christine Jo Miller's wedding day didn't quite go as planned. Photo / Getty Images

Christine Jo Miller's wedding day didn't quite go as planned. Photo / Getty Images

The last thing you think about when it comes to your wedding bouquet is whether it'll accidentally blind you.

But a US woman, Christine Jo Miller, says she'd have done things differently after the wildflowers she chose for her wedding day in 2017 caused a poisonous reaction, according to the Sun.

Miller explained in a series of TikTok videos that she thought it'd be romantic to carry the snow-on-the-mountain flowers growing by the house in Nebraska she'd bought with her husband.

Before the wedding, she gathered heaps of the flowers, not knowing that they cause poisonous reactions similar to poison ivy.

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And the night before the wedding, Miller spent the evening with her bridesmaids arranging the flowers with baby's breath and roses.

But she woke up on the wedding day with her face covered in a rash from the sap residue.

She posted a photo of herself lying on the floor and wrote, "I started feeling sick and feverish from the pain."

"So I did the cucumber trick and slept while I got my hair done."

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But when she removed the cucumber from her eyes, Miller was horrified to discover she'd lost her eyesight because her face was so swollen.

She spent most of the reception hiding under a table so she wouldn't have to dance. Photo / Supplied
She spent most of the reception hiding under a table so she wouldn't have to dance. Photo / Supplied

She was rushed to the nearest emergency room at 11.30am, but it wasn't open as the wedding was on Labour Day weekend.

But the bride wasn't about to let the allergic reaction ruin her wedding day and still managed to walk down the aisle.

"I wasn't dying so I thought I just needed to suck it up. Tried to do make-up – was in too much pain so I ended up sleeping until my mum said it was time to put my dress on," she said.

And she said while she couldn't keep her eyes open, it also hurt to close them.

After finally managing to put on her dress, she then forgot her heels, meaning her train picked up "every single branch, leaf, and bit of dirt" at her outdoor ceremony.

But as soon as they'd said their vows, Miller was rushed to a nearby hospital to be given pain medication, eye drops and a steroid shot.

Miller woke up with her eyes so puffy she couldn't see. Photo / Supplied
Miller woke up with her eyes so puffy she couldn't see. Photo / Supplied

In the meantime, her new husband Jon ran to a nearby Target to get her some comfy clothes to change into.

Miller revealed they didn't want to do a first dance by the time they got to their reception "because I didn't want to be the centre of attention out of embarrassment".

And when a wedding guest tried to get her to dance, the bride screamed out in pain and then spent the rest of the day hiding under a table to avoid any attention.

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But while their day didn't quite go as planned, the bride and groom got to spend the rest of their evening in their hotel room eating pizza - not a bad way to end the day.

Miller's swelling went down a week later, and the photographer arranged a surprise wedding reception for the couple.

Turns out your wedding day doesn't need to go perfectly to start your married life - the couple have now been married for eight years.

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