She was on her way to fulfilling her dream of becoming Miss USA when a scheduling conflict forced her to choose: the Miss USA pageant or her sister's wedding? INSIDE EDITION has the details.
Emily Johnson was close to reaching her dream. She was crowned Miss Maine, and was headed to Donald Trump's Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas.
"I had big dreams of becoming Miss USA, it was so exciting for me," she said.
But there was one big problem. The competition, which is usually held in April, was moved to June 19, the same day as Emily's sister's wedding.
"I was really upset, I was disappointed, I was frustrated. That's the only day in the entire year that I couldn't have done it," Emily said.
Her older sister, Crystal, found it impossible to change the wedding date.
"We had the venue booked, we had the photographer booked, plane tickets were booked, we would have lost thousands with changing all of that," Crystal explained.
Emily made a very difficult decision. She chose to give up her crown and stand next to her sister on her wedding day.
"I just felt so torn, I really, really, really wanted to do the pageant more than anything but I love my sister to death, and we are just so close and I couldn't imagine being anywhere else than with her on her wedding day," Emily said.
INSIDE EDITION was with the sisters at Andrea's Bridal in Portland, Maine, as Emily tried on her maid of honor gown for the first time.
"This gown symbolizes something, [it] symbolizes my love for my sister, and I'm glad that I can be wearing it on that day," Emily said.
It was a bittersweet moment as the beauty queen gave up her dream for the sister she loves.
"Thank you Emily. Thank you. This just means the world to me that you decided to give up your crown and your title to be part of my big special day. Thank you!" Crystal said.
