Bride Killed in Helicopter Crash Looked 'Beautiful' on Her 'Perfect Wedding Day'

The last memory friends and family have of Bailee Ackerman is how stunning she looked on her wedding day.

The blushing bride wore a striking beaded and feather gown to walk down the aisle to proud husband Will Byler.

Tragically, just hours after saying “I do”, the newlyweds were killed after their helicopter crashed outside of Uvdale, Texas. They were both 24 years old.

Bridesmaid Madey Pipkin paid tribute to her friends, writing on social media about the couple’s nuptials.

“This day was just so perfect and everything Bailee ever dreamed of and more. So beautiful,” Pipkin captioned a video of the pair exchanging their first kiss.

“Life will never be the same without Bailee girl,” she continued. “I’m so thankful that God put you in my life. From the pageants and those dang hat pins to your wedding day and everything in between you were always there.”

“Trying to imagine life without you is indescribable. I can’t describe how perfect your wedding day was and everything leading up to it,” Pipkin continued. “The way Will looked at you and the relationship that y’all had is something I wish everyone could experience.”
Ackerman’s maid of honor Jessica Stilley also paid tribute to her best friend, “My heart is broken in a million little pieces as I sit here and think of the rest of my life without my best friend.”

Stilley then gushed over how ‘beautiful’ Ackerman looked before saying, “I’m so happy you married the man of your dreams and found the precious love you deserved with him.”

“Thank you for loving me from the day we met. Thank you for being the very best, best friend I could ever ask for.”

RELATED: Friends Remember Texas Newlyweds Killed in Helicopter Crash: ‘They Were the Sweetest People’

Megan Kacir, a relative of Ackerman also spoke about the bride saying, “Bailee Ackerman, you were such a beautiful bride!”

Although family and friends of Byler and Ackerman are struggling to come to terms with the devastating news, one friend wrote she is at “peace” knowing that the newlyweds were together.

“Will Byler! You were the Woody to my Jessie! You were the brother I never had! Your strong faith and love for God is what has me at peace knowing you entered heaven’s gates with your beautiful bride,” Maci Meyer wrote on Facebook.
On Monday, authorities identified the pilot of the helicopter as Gerald Douglas Lawrence, 76, who was also killed in the crash. Lawrence was taking the groom and bride to a local airport, where they would fly to their honeymoon location, according to Judge Steve Kennedy, Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 in Uvalde County, who spoke with local news outlets.

The crash occurred around 1:57 a.m. local time on Sunday morning, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board told PEOPLE.

Kennedy explained the groom’s father was the owner of the helicopter, a Bell 206B but Lawrence had piloted the aircraft for about 20 years.

“It’s just really sad. Tragic,” Kennedy said. “It was not a great big helicopter. It was in pieces when I saw it up on the top of the hill. It was really hard to get to.”

Eric Smith, one of 700 wedding guests, posted on Facebook about the crash. “We celebrated their fairytale wedding and they were surrounded by their family and friends as they flew off in the family helicopter,” he recalled. “Sadly they crashed into the side of a hill about a mile from the family ranch.”

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.