The cheering and clapping started as Matt Ficarra, paralyzed from the chest down since 2011, walked into the hotel ballroom through a side door to await his bride for their wedding.

Family and friends of Ficarra and Jordan Basile, his soon-to-be wife, applauded as he walked alongside his father and then stood at the front of the room in the Doubletree Hotel in DeWitt.

Ficarra beamed as he waited for the bridal party, and let out an audible "wow" when he spotted his bride to be.

After Judge Ted Limpert pronounced Ficarra and Basile husband and wife in a 15-minute ceremony, Ficarra achieved his dream: He walked down the aisle alongside his new bride.

Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" played as the couple made their way down the aisle.

Many guests wiped away tears as they smiled broadly, snapping photos and cheering as the couple made their way down the aisle past the rows of seats. The five bridesmaids - dressed in off-the-shoulder gowns with bouquets of white flowers - also dabbed at their eyes.

Ficarra was able to stand walk during the ceremony thanks to a robotic-like device called an Ekso. The battery-powered Ekso is portable and straps onto Ficarra, allowing him to walk with a normal gait. Two therapists walked behind him just in case, but he walked the whole way himself.

"It feels great to be married,'' pronounced Ficarra, 30, who broke his neck in a freak boating accident in 2011. "And I am so happy to have met my goal of walking at my wedding."

Ficarra has been driving seven hours to Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network in Allentown, Pa. weekly since April in order to practice walking with the apparatus. Since his engagement in December, he's vowed he would not roll down the aisle in a wheelchair.

To watch him walk again was an unimaginable moment, Ficarra's family members said.

"It's spectacular,'' said Frank Ficarra, Matt's father who also served as one of his three best men. "I am so proud of him. He's determined and he accomplishes what he sets out to do.

"He doesn't give up on anything,'' Frank Ficarra said. "He's a gem."

The couple wrote their own vows for the ceremony. Matt Ficarra pledged to always take care of Basile, who he called his best friend. Basile, who described Ficarra as her "soulmate, companion and true best friend," said her love for him is indescribable. She told him she will always love him "whether he is sitting or standing."

The portable bionic exoskeleton helps patients whose legs are paralyzed stand and walk. Ficarra said it feels incredibly natural to walk with the device, and loves being able to stand his full 6-foot height.

The couple will leave Monday morning for a honeymoon in Jamaica.

To help Ficarra buy an Ekso for himself, go to his You Caring site.