Elizabeth Rex Hundley was a unique bride last November. Certainly, her husband will never forget his wedding day, because his wife-to-be had Rex appeal. Or, rather, T-Rex appeal.
Tom Gardner was standing on a pier before his Bald Head Island wedding as Hundley approached from behind — wearing a T-Rex costume.
Paul Seiler, a Raleigh photographer, captured the moment before the Nov. 6 wedding on the east coast of North Carolina, the News & Observer reported. It was Hundley’s idea to surprise her groom.
Hundley (now Gardner) said she chose to dress up as the T-Rex because her mother’s maiden name, and her middle name, is “Rex.” She also said she was obsessed with the massive dinosaur.
“I thought it would be funny to wear the costume on the day I would go from a Rex/Hundley to a Gardner,” she said in an email to The News & Observer on Thursday. “I even had my bridesmaids take pictures of me the day before the wedding holding a sign that said: ‘Today a Rex, tomorrow a Gardner.’
“I’m also just obsessed with the T-Rex as a result of my name. I have so many T-Rex items around my house!”
Tom Gardner wrote in a Facebook post that he “was totally floored when I turned around and saw her in this.” In the video, he turns around and begins laughing hysterically as he sees Hundley, who was wearing a wedding dress under the costume.
"Wanna unzip me?” Hundley asks.
"Yes, I will unzip you," Gardner laughs, freeing Hundley from her costume and giving her a kiss.
Raleigh wedding videographer Jon Clark caught the moment on video, which was posted on Facebook on Monday. By Friday morning it had more than 2.5 million views.
“It’s still sinking in,” the new Mrs. Gardner wrote in her email to the News & Observer. “I thought the video would just be sent among family and friends but it has just taken off! It is just so great to see so many people got a laugh out of it as well.”
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