Bride calls off wedding, invites homeless to the reception instead

Having to call off your wedding is a devastating and stressful event, to be sure.

Sarah Cummins, who was set to wed her fiance at a $30,000 affair on July 15, called off the wedding less than two weeks before the date. While she declines to give the reason why, the former bride-to-be is making the best out of a bad situation.

Instead of letting her nonrefundable contract for a lavish reception at the Ritz Charles, an event space in Carmel, Indiana, go to waste, Cummins decided to invite homeless people from the area to partake in the plated dinner for 170 guests.

“It was really devastating to me,” Cummins told the IndyStar. “I called everyone, canceled, apologized, cried, called vendors, cried some more, and then I started feeling really sick about just throwing away all the food I ordered for the reception.”

She arranged for two buses to pick up about 150 homeless people and their families living in shelters in nearby Indianapolis and Noblesville. The residents were treated to a gourmet dinner, including bourbon-glazed meatballs, goat cheese and roasted garlic bruschetta, chicken breast with artichokes and Chardonnay cream, and wedding cake.

While Cummins is understandably saddened about having to cancel her dream wedding, which she had been planning and saving for with her former fiance, Logan Arauj, she was glad she was able to turn the situation into a positive.

“I will at least have some kind of happy memory to pull from. I’ve worked so many weekends and so much overtime to pay for this, I wanted to make sure it would be the perfect wedding,” Cummins told the IndyStar.

“I was so touched that Sarah had taken a painful experience and turned it into a joyful one for families in need,” Dayspring Center shelter director Cheryl Herzog said last week about the gesture. “I suspect having the chance to experience a delicious meal in a beautiful space like the Ritz Charles will be very special for them.”

Local businesses and community members donated suits and dresses for the attendees to wear.

Cummins planned to attend the dinner with her mother and bridesmaids before departing on a solo vacation to the Dominican Republic, her planned honeymoon destination.