Updated — Feb. 3, 3 p.m. ET
Aly and Anthony Femia met as students at Manhattanville College in New York and have been together ever since.
On Dec. 14, 2012, Anthony proposed to Aly when they were on a weekend getaway to Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
They celebrated their engagement with friends and family and were originally supposed to get married in September 2015.
But last week Aly’s mom, Mary Quinn, went to the doctor to check up on a pain she felt in her neck.
They unexpectedly discovered she had lung cancer that spread to her brain.
After initially hoping there were treatment options, Mary and her family were told it was incurable. She now only has a short time left to live.
When Aly asked the doctors when she should hold her wedding so her mother could be there, they answered, "Tomorrow."
So in 24 hours, Aly, Anthony, their families, and the hospital staff rallied together to plan their wedding.
In just a few short hours, the couple managed to get their marriage certificate from New Haven City Hall and pick out a wedding dress for the bride.
They officially tied the knot on Wednesday, Jan. 29.
Aly described how the staff at Yale New Haven Hospital, where Mary currently is, played a huge role in making her wedding day a success.
“The hospital was INCREDIBLE! They made my wedding possible,” she said.
One doctor offered to take her wedding dress shopping.
A group of them also bought Aly a bracelet that they gave to her before she got married.
The social worker brought Aly her grandmother’s handkerchief to signify "something old."
The hospital even donated food and flowers and bought a cake.
The hallways were filled with doctors and nurses, and the hospital chaplain performed the ceremony.
Aly's stepdad walked her down the aisle.
“He loves me like his own daughter," she said.
"We have a beautiful family, and no matter what happens we're all going to stick together.”
Aly couldn't get over how amazing and helpful everyone was.
“My favorite part of the day was having my mom see me in my wedding dress wearing a string of her pearls, and seeing her smile," she said.
Sixteen years ago, Aly also lost her father to metastatic lung cancer.
"Maybe that’s why it was even more important to me to have one of my parents at my wedding," she explained.
“I’m so glad that she was there to watch me say ‘I do’ and see me marry my best friend," Aly said.
“I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.”
Aly's mother, Mary Quinn, died Monday morning.
