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This Bride's Response to Being Ditched by Her Groom Will Make Your Day

January 19th 2016

No bride-to-be wants to cancel her wedding, especially after months of tedious planning and preparation. But that’s exactly what happened to California resident Dana Olsen after her fiancée got cold feet and called off their wedding, the Seattle Times reports.

Related: How Much to Spend on Your Wedding if You Want to Avoid Divorce

Just six weeks before her wedding on January 16, Olsen’s fiancée unexpectedly told her that he didn’t want to marry her. But at that time, it was too late. Their venue in Seattle was already booked, the food was chosen, the decorations were set. The sudden change in plans left Olsen and her family in a tough spot.

"Pretty much immediately I thought about the fact that my family had paid for almost the entire wedding, and I knew we wouldn't be able to get most of it back," Olsen told Washington's King5 News. "So after the shock of what had happened wore off, I started to think about what to do. It just felt really terrible and wasteful and awful to just have all that money and this beautiful event that wasn't going to happen. I just couldn't stand the thought of it being wasted."

How much the Olsen family invested in their daughter's nuptials is not clear but the Seattle Times reports that the mother of the bride may have hinted at a price tag of more than $10,000.

Related: Weddings Have Become A Nightmare For Young People

But however much was spent, the bride's money didn’t go to waste. Dana turned what would have been her wedding reception into an unforgettable night for more than 100 homeless people and their families. She invited families from Seattle's emergency homeless shelter Mary’s place, and hosted a party in their honor.

homeless guests at reception in SeattleLindsey Wasson/The Seattle Times - seattletimes.com

Once word got around about Olsen’s plan to serve the homeless, other members of the community decided to pay it forward too. The city of Seattle had previously donated buses to Mary's Place, which were used to chauffeur people over to the event. Some of Washington's local hairdressers offered to do makeup and hair for 42 homeless women in attendance. And another person gave away jewelry and dresses for adults and young children to wear, King5 reports.

homeless guests at reception in SeattleLindsey Wasson/The Seattle Times - seattletimes.com

For one evening some of these homeless — half of them children — got to feel like real VIPs, eating catered food and dancing to live music.

homeless guests at reception in SeattleLindsey Wasson/The Seattle Times - seattletimes.com

Among the guests were a set of orphaned twin sisters from New York. They came to Seattle just a month ago and attended the event with their two young children.

Related: The Scary Financial Reality of Your Wedding

Although Olsen herself did not attend the event, Olsen’s mother Karen, her maid-of-honor and other family and friends came to “assemble the centerpieces and make sure everything was in order,” the Seattle Times reports.

"I love that hopefully a lot of people will have a really fun night," Olsen told King5. "I just want it to be really fun. I mean, if we can't have a good night, I hope that they have a great time."

Miles away in California, Dana stayed home and spent some time hiking up California's Pacific Crest Trail with her father, the Seattle Times reports.

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