Shelby Garcia believes an unexpected sign from a mysterious stranger could have been a sign from her late brother, Colby

• Alex and Shelby Garcia were married on September 22 in New York’s Central Park

• An unknown Italian woman approached Shelby and gave her a bracelet with a blue fish charm on it, but only later did she realize its meaning.

• The blue fish charm closely resembled a blue ceramic fish that Shelby’s late brother, Colby, had made for her. To the bride, this indicates that Colby was at the wedding in spirit

A bride believes that a small token from a stranger symbolizes her late brother’s presence at her wedding.

Before Shelby Garcia (née Hall), 27, married Alex Garcia, 28, in Central Park on September 22, she received a gift of “something blue” from a stranger who would it changes your perspective on your wedding day forever.

The two of almost six years were taking photos under Bethesda Terrace before the ceremony when an Italian woman approached Shelby from behind. Although the bride is usually hesitant to talk to strangers in New York, she somehow felt “comfortable” talking to this unknown woman.

“I felt like I knew her, I’m not sure how she felt, but when I looked into her eyes it felt very familiar,” Shelby tells PEOPLE. “I felt comfortable in a way I don’t normally feel with strangers. She didn’t feel like a stranger.”

She continued: “She said in Italy it’s good luck to wear something blue on your wedding day and she wanted me to have that and she put the bracelet on my wrist. We thanked him several times and had this moment where we looked at each other. in each other’s eyes and it felt comforting.”

The woman gave Shelby a bracelet with a small blue fish on it. But only later did he realize its significance.

After the ceremony, Shelby and her photographer, Mariana Soto, were about to take group photos when they started discussing what happens after death. Shelby’s brother Colby died in a car accident about three years ago when he was just 17 years old. Although the two were six years apart, they were “incredibly close”.

Related: Woman forced to choose between attending sister’s wedding on cruise ship or buying her children Christmas presents

“He asked me if I believed in heaven,” Shelby recalls. “Actually, I don’t know what I believe, so I was honest and she said at that point with the woman that she felt something that had to happen. I realized then that I had a blue ceramic fish that my brother had made for me. when he was younger, he stayed in my room at my parents’ house.”

Shelby realized that the blue fish charm looked a lot like a ceramic blue fish her brother had made for her. Because her brother couldn’t physically be at her wedding, she thought it was a sign that he was there in spirit.

The stranger was also intent on giving the bracelet to Shelby, even though there was another bride in the same area.

“It feels so special that I get to keep this now,” she said of the TikTok bracelet. “I wore it and I looked at it and I just know it was there on Sunday with me.”

But it wasn’t the first time Shelby felt Colby’s presence.

Since her brother’s death, Shelby says there have been other small, unexplained experiences that she believes were signs from him — like the shower curtain slamming in when the door was closed and no one else was home. Colby used to walk into the bathroom while showering and try to hit her through the curtain before he got out. She also liked to throw cold water from the sink over the shower, and since she died, Shelby has also felt the cold water fall on her when there is no drain.

Related: Wedding guest asked to leave wearing dress that looked white under black lights, not ‘following etiquette’

“It feels like he’s around more now,” she notes, adding that she saw Colby’s name etched into the sidewalk in Greenpoint just last week.

“Colby and I have been friends since the day we met… As we grew up, he was always attached to me and I would invite him and insist that he do things with me and my friends, I I always made sure he and I had time together. says Shelby. Between her and Colby were two siblings who died at or near birth from Ellis-van Creveld syndrome.

Never miss a story – sign up PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

She says Colby was her “shadow,” adding, “If he wanted time with me, he got it.”

The newly married woman has had no further contact with the mysterious stranger since he left after giving her the bracelet.

“I haven’t seen her, I don’t know how we’re going to find each other again,” Shelby says.