Groom Calls Off Wedding, Bride's Family Feeds Homeless with Recption Food

One bride may have had the worst possible thing happen regarding her wedding - the groom getting cold feet. But her family did not let the circumstances of a terrible situation steer them away from making a few other people's day instead.

Kari Duane, the mother of the would-be-bride, got wind of her daughter's heartbreaking situation on Monday, realizing she was left with a venue and no wedding she decided to turn the cancelled affair into a charitable event for the less fortunate.

"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 said.

Duane then opened the banquet hall set for 120 guests to 90 homeless people, old and young, in the community. They sat in one of Sacramento's finest venues, Citizen Hotel, and dined on appetizers, cauliflower, salad, gnocchi, salmon, and even tri-tip. As the Associated Press notes, some of the attendees even dressed for the occasion.

Although Duane was sad about her daughter's situation she said "it was heartwarming to see so many people be there and enjoy a meal."

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

"When you're going through a hard time and struggle, for you to get out to do something different and with your family, it was really a blessing," Rashad Abdullah, who is homeless, reports 9 News.

"This is not coming out of our kitchen," Tamara Dotson, who is also homeless, said. "We love our chef Leo, but he wouldn't be preparing nothing like this."

Duane's daughter stayed home, as the day was surely a painful one. However Duane said "I feel a lot of heartache and heartbreak for her, but I will take away something good from this, I will."

The wedding cost $35,000 and included a non-refundable honeymoon trip to Belize, which Duane and her daughter enjoyed together. On the topic Duane added, "I hope that when she looks back at this, she knows she was doing something good with a bad situation."