Katie Gaudreau Marries Devin Joyce in Emotional Ceremony 1 Year After Her Brothers Johnny and Matthew Were Killed on Eve of Her Wedding

Katie Gaudreau has married her high school sweetheart, Devin Joyce, nearly one year after canceling her wedding following the deaths of her brothers, Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau.

Katie was set to celebrate her nuptials on Aug. 30, 2024, when an alleged drunk driver struck and killed NHL star Johnny, 31, and high school hockey coach Matthew, 29, while they were biking in their hometown of Oldmans Township, New Jersey. They were to serve as groomsmen at her wedding the next day.

Katie and Devin tied the knot on Friday, July 11, in a ceremony at St. Mary’s Church in their hometown of Gloucester City, N.J., followed by a reception at The Bellevue Hotel in nearby Philadelphia, with 200 guests in attendance.

Opening up about her wedding day, Katie tells PEOPLE how she emotionally prepared for the experience as she continues to navigate her immense grief, along with the bittersweet memories of the joy-filled time leading up to her canceled nuptials.

“It’s hard to put into words how much has shifted and how much I’ve carried in my heart since last August,” she says. “Back then, we were preparing with so much love and excitement. I remember the way John and Matty lit up — how genuinely happy they were to celebrate Devin and me. Their joy was radiant, effortless and contagious.”

While Katie says she had been trying “so hard to return to that emotional space, to honor the moment as [Johnny and Matthew] would have,” she accepted that the emotions would feel different this time.

“And I know, deep in my heart, that they would have wanted us to feel love — not just their love — but all of it: the kind that surrounds us, uplifts us and reminds us that we are not alone in any of this,” she explains. “So today, I hold both the sorrow of their absence and the beauty of their presence. Their love didn’t leave.”

Devin adds, “[We knew] this wedding would be completely different from what we planned last year — we’re missing two of the most important people who should be here with us. It wouldn’t be the same, but it would still be a celebration of love — ours and theirs.”

The couple had originally planned to get married in Philadelphia at The Lucy, Katie’s “dream venue” — where the space, which is outfitted with long farmhouse tables, “felt like home.” She recalls, “It reminded me so much of our family — how close we are, how often we gathered around a table just like that.”

But after the accident, Katie knew in her heart that she could not go ahead with her rescheduled wedding there. “I needed something different. The Lucy was never going to be what my dream wedding was because I was missing two essential pieces of our day,” she tells PEOPLE.

Eventually, she and Devin landed on The Bellevue, which had an ideal setup with a hotel connected to the reception venue.

“I wanted a space where we could all be together the night before — somewhere we could sleep over, wake up together, and just be, without having to leave or be separated,” Katie says, explaining, “I was having a lot of anxiety about everyone leaving the venue after the reception and something happening, so I wanted a space where we would all be together.”

In a beautiful gesture, more than a dozen vendors donated their services for the couple’s nuptials, which were planned by Kyle Michelle Weddings & Events. It’s just one of countless testaments to the tremendous outpouring of love and support that Katie, Devin and their families have received amid the tragedy.

“This past year has brought the kind of grief that changes you. Many days, the ache of missing them was so deep, it felt hard to breathe. But alongside that pain, there has also been immense and unwavering love,” Katie says. “It is this love that has carried us through love from our tight-knit community, the hockey family, and from people across the country and even around the world.”

She adds, “It’s impossible to describe what it means to feel that kind of support when your world has been shattered. But we felt it. And we still do. Our family will carry that love with us forever.”

During the emotional wedding ceremony at St. Mary’s, which was officiated by the couple’s high school priest, Father Caparas, Katie walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, Guy Gaudreau. She wore a strapless Martina Liana gown detailed with floral lace accents and a sheer illusion back.

Katie’s mom, Jane Gaudreau, had planned to be escorted down the aisle by her two sons, and got upset during a planning conversation as the heartbreaking reality of that stolen moment sank in. “We had all imagined it,” Katie says. “Their absence felt especially heavy in that moment.”

Katie remembers thinking, “Maybe Devin could walk Mom down the aisle.” But before she even had a chance to pose the idea to her then-fiancé, he surprised her by turning to Jane and saying, “Why don’t I walk you down the aisle?”

Johnny and Matthew’s two best friends, Jamie and Charlie, stood beside Devin as groomsmen, “honoring the boys in a way that feels right and natural,” Katie says.

“The idea of looking out into the church and later at our wedding photos and seeing two empty spaces didn’t sit right. But the truth is, John and Matty left us with so much love that there was no doubt how to fill those spaces,” she adds.

While she knew they were with her in spirit, Katie found several special ways to honor her late brothers at the wedding. Inspired by one of her favorite artists, Taylor Swift, who is well known for leaving Easter eggs in her songs — or as Katie puts it, “quiet whispers only meant for the people who really know” — the newlyweds included some touching tributes, both big and small, to Johnny and Matthew.

“Some visible to everyone and some only Devin and I would understand,” Katie notes.

In a nod to the brothers’ hockey jersey numbers — 13 for Johnny and 21 for Matthew — Katie’s bouquet featured 21 standard roses and 13 spray rose blooms. Devin, his groomsmen and the couple’s dads all wore socks embroidered with the two numbers.

Devin and Katie’s father sported custom suits by J.F. Bedard from Glorius Custom that had photos of Johnny and Matthew inside the jacket lining.

As for the bride, her veil, custom-made by Sara Gabriel, featured the messages “Love you – Matty” and “Love ya – John” in the brothers’ handwriting. “It’s their words, their hands, a piece of them woven into mine to walk me down the aisle and keep me safe, one on each side,” Katie tells PEOPLE.

“My ‘something blue’ was a handkerchief, a gift embroidered with ‘JG,’ ‘MG’ and two doves,” she adds.

Last year, she and Devin had planned to play “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers — which Katie says has “always been my song” — at the reception, but it no longer felt right as her brothers wouldn’t be there to dance with them. Instead, they created a video showing Johnny and Matthew “dancing, laughing, lighting up every room they ever entered.”

The video appeared on a screen behind the band when “Mr. Brightside” was played so “they’d still be part of the moment, the party, the joy.”

“These details may be small, but they carry so much meaning,” Katie says. “Each one reminds us that John and Matty are not just remembered — they are present in the most heartfelt, joyful and beautiful ways.”

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Reflecting on what her two brothers would have wanted to say to their sister on her special day, Katie tells PEOPLE, “They would tell me that they are here with me — maybe not in the way I wish they could be, but they’re celebrating alongside all of us. I know it to be true.”

“Most of all, they’d want me to know that their love didn’t end, that it lives on in every celebration, milestone and moment of happiness in my life,” she says.

Katie and Devin, who met and began dating in high school, got engaged in May 2023 in the very place where their love story first began — the gym at Gloucester Catholic, where Katie first laid eyes on Devin and remembered “getting butterflies.”

As for Devin, he tells PEOPLE that he is forever in awe of “the incredible strength Katie carries in everything she does.”

“Also, her love for family runs so deep — it’s the foundation of who she is,” he adds. “She gives herself completely into everything that matters to her, and that makes her extraordinary.”

While Devin has been by her side since their teens, Katie says their bond has strengthened more than she “ever thought possible” since Johnny and Matthew’s deaths.

“This past year has shown me that love can keep growing, even when your heart feels broken. It has proven that I can love him even more deeply than I ever thought possible,” she explains.

“He’s walked this same grief with me. He’s been part of the boys’ lives for 10 years — they were brothers to him, too. He lost them just like I did,” she continues. “But even in his own pain, he never stopped being there for me. He never stopped caring, listening and trying. That’s what getting married means to me: choosing someone who doesn’t just promise to be there but who already is.”

Additional Credits:

Photography: Afrik Armando and Hayley Richter
Videography: SUNN Studio
Florals: Beautiful Blooms
Ceremony Florals: Eden Events
Rentals: White Glove Rentals
Photo Booth: Poser Photobooth Co.
Invitations: Minted
Transportation: First Class Rolls-Royce
Bridal Party Transportation: Cescaphe Trolley
Bridesmaid Dresses: Birdy Grey
Band: Stealing Savanah
Hair and Makeup: Oh la la Bridal
Food: Angelo’s Pizzeria South Philly