Bride donates $15,000 reception to nonprofit that helped her family after calling off wedding

‘This just doesn’t happen,’ representative from the organisation says

A bride who made a last-minute decision to cancel her wedding decided to aid a nonprofit that once served her family with her nonrefundable reception.

The woman, based in South Bay, California, was forced to call her nuptials off a few days before the event was scheduled to take place. With the disappointment and difficulty of having to deal with the aftermath of no longer hosting a wedding, the bride wasn’t able to get a refund on her $15,000 reception.

Unfortunately, because the woman changed her plans a few days before the big date, her money was tied up, but she wouldn’t let it go to waste. Rather than using the reception to celebrate a new marriage, she donated the paid-in-full reception to Parents Helping Parents (PHP), the San Jose-based nonprofit organisation which had helped her family in the past, according to NBC.

PHP aims to help families who have children with disabilities through its self-help model which is meant to encourage the creation of solutions through active support and community. The bride had organised the party at Gilroy’s Eagle Ridge Golf Club, and with her generous donation, the nonprofit was able to enjoy a full dinner, dessert, DJ, photo booth, and grand fireworks display.

Speaking to NBC, PHP’s executive director Maria Daane said: “I’ve never heard of anyone ever calling a nonprofit and saying: ‘We want to donate a $15,000 party in two weeks to you.’ This just doesn’t happen.”

Once word got out that the organisation would be taking over the reception and hosting a party, over 100 people registered to attend.

Liz Schwartz, an attendee who brought her daughter Paige, expressed gratitude to NBC. She noted how sweet and enjoyable the event was for them and other families.

“It’s wonderful to be included and have this celebration of who our community is,” she told the outlet.

The Independent has contacted PHP for a comment.

In other wedding news, a mother of a bride gained the support of the internet when she posted a candid admission in the popular Reddit thread “Am I The A**hole?” The excited mom took to the forum to ask whether she was in the wrong for opting to walk her daughter down the aisle on her big day and participate in a mother-daughter dance.

While the woman explained that she has a husband who’s been a stepfather to her daughter since she was 10 years old, her children’s biological father passed away when they were six and eight years old. Additionally, she noted how she and her kids came to terms with the fact that her new husband “was not going to be filling the role of a dad in their lives.”

More than that, her husband “was fine with that, as long as he was respected and they could work toward being a caring family”. When her daughter got engaged, she was asked to walk her down the aisle. And although that was always the plan, the mom’s husband wasn’t as accepting of it. In the end, he was upset with the fact that his stepdaughter would be escorted down the aisle by her mom.

He admitted he thought his wife was “wrong” for doing it and that he “felt he deserved more from all” the family.

The majority of readers sided with the Redditor, noting how her husband should show more respect for her daughter’s decision.

“This isn’t about him and all he’s done. It’s about Calla,” one person wrote. “She lost her dad and, while the grief fades a bit over the years, big events bring it roaring back in (at least that’s been my experience). Her wedding is going to be bittersweet. She needs her parent (the one she’s always had and the one who loved her dad) to ‘give her away.’”

Another added: “The real question here is why does your husband believe he’s more entitled to this honour of walking your daughter down the aisle, and ‘giving’ her away than YOU? You, who is her mother, who has been there through it all, who has comforted and given her a home and place to be herself, unconditionally?”