US bride-to-be calls off dream wedding and feeds homeless instead

Several local residents donated suits and other items for homeless to wear to event

Sarah Cummins, a pharmacy student, had been planning her dream wedding for two years but decided to call it off last minute. According to Refinery29, she would not say why.

Having invested and saved $30,000 for the event at a venue that was to host 170 guests, Sarah didn't know what to do.

"It was really devastating to me. I called everyone, canceled, apologised, cried, called vendors, cried some more, and then I started feeling really sick about just throwing away all the food I ordered for the reception," she said.

What happened next, was a remarkable -- to say the least.

With such large quantities of food going to waste, Sarah did the only thing she knew would placate her pain -- she decided throw a party for the homeless instead.

She started working with her event planner to re-arrange the reception and got in touch with various local shelters looking for people she could invite to her wedding turned fiesta.

Event planner Maddie LaDow at the Ritz Charles said that this wasn't the first time she had seen someone cancel a wedding on such short notice. "Some people throw parties, some completely walk away, but none has ever done anything this charitable," she said. "It is very honourable of her."

A bus, arranged by Sarah, picked up homeless people from the various shelters and brought them to the hotel. To give the event an extra oomph, several local residents donated suits and other items for the homeless to wear to the party. On the menu were bourbon-glazed meatballs, goat cheese and roasted garlic bruschetta, chicken breast with artichokes and Chardonnay cream sauce and, yes, the wedding cake.



"I will at least have some kind of happy memory to pull from," she said. "I've worked so many weekends and so much overtime to pay for this, I wanted to make sure it would be the perfect wedding."

After this, Cummins plans to go on her honeymoon for a solo adventure before she returns to university.