Shine OnDisappointed bride donates wedding reception to disability charity
A North Dakota bride is donating her reception to an organization that serves people with disabilities after her fiancé called off the wedding.
Michelle Marxen spent thousands of dollars on a dream wedding planned for this Saturday.
It all started to unravel the day her wedding invitations were sent out, about a year after the pair started planning their big day. Her fiancé left to go to work that morning with a pleasant sign off, saying he loved her. But later that day, he called things off.
"He didn't wanna marry me. He said he didn't love me anymore," Marxen tells Fox News of that fateful day.
Also see: Groom calls in bomb threat after forgetting to book wedding venue
"You can't heal if you're just going to dwell on what could have been," she adds.
She spent the next few days calling family, friends and vendors in an attempt to cancel contracts she had already paid for, including one for The Crystal Ballroom venue in Fargo, N.D.
In the end, the jilted bride decided to donate her wedding venue to Creative Care for Reaching Independence, a local non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities. The organization now plans to use the venue for a Halloween party.
"What was supposed to be my special day will now be their special day," she explains.
Also see: Disappointed bride offers botched wedding cake on eBay
Marxen now plans to be in Las Vegas for what would have been her wedding day.
Her donation is the second of its kind to make headlines in recent weeks.
Just last month, a Georgia couple donated their daughter's cancelled wedding reception. Carol and Willie Fowler teamed up with a local charity to host a fancy feast for Atlanta's homeless, serving a four-course meal to 200 of the city's poorest, many of them children.
What are your thoughts on these donations, which turn a bad situation into something good? Would you do the same if a major event you were planning was called off? Let us know in the comments.
