Hurricanes almost ruined my wedding – this is the weird way I saved the day

Perfect strangers stormyHer wedding – and she couldn’t be happier.

Meagan Archard’s fantasy of saying “I do” in Asheville, North Carolina was nearly dashed by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

But thankfully, 50 strangers helped save her big day by turning up at the event when guests weren’t able to attend.

“Believe it or not, we didn’t know half the people there,” Archard told Queen City News. “Maybe it wasn’t the day I imagined” but it was perfect.

Archard and her husband Eric were married in October. 13 – just two weeks after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on Asheville.

The couple were originally scheduled to tie the knot in October last year, but postponed the wedding after learning they were expecting their first child.

After Helene — a Category 4 storm that has caused at least 228 deaths and nearly $88 billion in damage — Archard believed she would have to postpone her wedding again.

“It was like a roller coaster of emotions,” the mother of one explained. “You know, on the one hand, obviously, we’ve been planning this wedding for two years and we wanted it to happen of course, and on the other hand… what’s the morally right thing to do?” €

“At the end of the day, after two years, it was just a wedding for me,” she said. “Whether it happened or not, I just wanted to make sure my vendors were OK.”

Archard’s vendors insisted that the wedding go ahead.

“That was kind of a mental turning point for me,” the bride declared.

But before she could decide to walk down the aisle, a second natural disaster struck.

Hurricane Milton made landfall in Florida in October. 9 – four days before Archard’s ceremony.

The Category 3 storm prevented dozens of the 100 guests from traveling to North Carolina from Florida for the couple’s big day.

“We were going great and then we hit this mental block again,” Archard said. “We were like, ‘What’s going on?'” Archard said. “Then we had this idea to invite foreigners to come to the wedding.â€

Instead of canceling the ceremony, a crafty Archard decided to invite 50 strangers from her mother’s work to fill the place.

Those strangers were actually health care heroes from Mission Hospital in Asheville, where Archard’s mother works as a nurse. At the time, the bride’s mother and her colleagues had been working around the clock for more than two weeks, caring for people after Hurricane Helene.Â

“It’s been a very challenging month,” said nurse Paige Younkin, who, along with several dozen of her colleagues, had the opportunity to attend Archard’s wedding, a sight unseen.

“It was great,” Younkin said.

“Not only were we able to hang out, dress up, see each other and have fun,” she said. “But [we] i got to spend some really happy moments partying with him [the bride and groom].â€

And unlike most brides who treat strangers — or wedding guests who crash there to get free food and drink — as trouble at their nuptials, Archard treated Younkin and her work friends like Tinseltown royalty.

“We used to call them Hollywood extras,” said the newlyweds. “That was their nickname all night.”

“I would walk up and say, ‘You must be a Hollywood extra. I’m good to meet Megan, – continued Archard, who appreciated the unknown for the continuation of the party.

“It just ended up being cool and fun,” she gushed. “They never left the dance floor.”

“It was very uplifting.â€