Homeless fed from cancelled wedding

A family chose a unique way to make the most of their daughter's cancelled wedding. Photo / iStock

After a-groom-to-be called off his wedding, the deserted bride's family decided to do something good with the huge amount of food that had already been ordered and paid for.

With a (US) $35,000 deposit already made and more bills due, news of the cancelled wedding was a shock to the bride's mother, Californian Kari Duane, whose daughter Quinn was meant to be getting married with 120 guests in attendance.

"When I found out on Monday that the wedding would not be taking place, it just seemed like, of course, this would be something that we would do to give back," Duane told KCRA.com.

She said while she feels "a lot of heartache and heartbreak" for her daughter, she wanted to take away something good from the situation.

On Saturday, a banquet hall at Sacramento's Citizen Hotel began filling with the city's homeless, invited to share a meal.

The first to arrive was almost half-an-hour early: A woman who lives in a shelter for those too old to work and too poor to afford rent.

Upon her arrival, Duane said she told herself, "If she's the only person that comes tonight, this was worth it."

But the hall was eventually filled with struggling families, single people, elderly and babies.

The banquet was enjoyed by the city's homeless. Photo / Facebook

One man who arrived with his wife and five children said the occasion made them feel like royalty as they feasted on appetizers, salads, salmon and gnocchi. The family usually struggle to get three meals a day.

His wife, Erika Craycraft, said the Duane family's kindness meant the world.

"To lose out on something so important to yourself and then give it to someone else is really giving, really kind," Craycraft said.

While the meal meant many happy faces and full stomachs for the city's homeless, the bride-to-be chose to stay home with friends ahead of her honeymoon trip she will now take with her mother.

- nzherald.co.nz