Spokane bride battling cancer gets special wedding

This time of year, many people get engaged. However, for one local bride the ceremony will be more than just a wedding.

A bridal expo in Coeur d'Alene is stepping up to help a bride battling cancer. The expo is a one stop shop for wedding planning. It even has a live auction that will benefit a local non-profit.

"It's like a dream come true," said bride-to-be Ashlee Jensen who is battling a rare form of cancer.

Trying on a wedding dress is a truly special moment for any woman, but for 20-year-old Ashlee Jensen it means even more.

"Which part are you most excited for to see on the day?" someone asked Ashlee at the bridal shop.

Ashlee replied, "the dress."

Two-years ago, Ashlee was a regular college student, working full time. She had hoped to be a dental assistant, but something changed her plans.

"In between I was super tired and took naps," Ashlee explained. "Then I had a lump that I ignored for a few months."

The lump turned out to be Stage 3 Peripheral T-Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Ashlee is just one in three million in the United States to be diagnosed with it at her age.

"She's my youngest of three children," said Ashlee's mom Patti Jensen. "You're in denial. You just can't believe this happens to one of your children. We take it day by day. I've been with her through everything."

Cody Cousins has been by her side as well. Cody is the boy who was her high school sweetheart. He is now the man she wants to marry.

"We met at school just randomly walking upstairs and I looked at him like ,"hey you're pretty cute," Ashlee explained.

"It got to more of the rougher part where we were going from one chemotherapy to the next," Cody Cousins said. "I just wanted to make sure she knew that I was going to be here for her through this no matter how long it took, what direction it went, so I proposed."

That is when an organization called "PreVeiled" jumped in. PreVeiled is a local non-profit that grants weddings to couples whose lives are changed by uncontrollable circumstances.

"She wrote into us actually and told us her story," said PreVeiled Secretary Misty Ceriello.

"Ashlee's had a rough road," said Preveiled President Misty Ceriello. "She's been fighting for her life for sure."

Fighting through 70 plus rounds of chemotherapy, bone marrow biopsies, full body radiation, and most recently a stem cell transplant.

"She still has doctor's appointments three times a week and any day she can be in and out of the hospital, so without everybody helping out, this wouldn't have happened," Patti said. "We're grateful."

Ashlee and her family are both grateful and optimistic. In sickness and in health, nothing will stop these two from committing their lives to each other. Not age, not uncertainty, and most definitely not even cancer can stop them.

"I have to be there for her," Cody said. "Just seeing her happy every day, even if it's a bad day, makes it all worth it."

Ashlee's future may not be clear, but one thing is certain.

"It's going to be a good day," Patti said when referring to Ashlee's wedding day.