They decided to use their wedding reception as an opportunity to feed and offer hope to Syrian refugees.
A Turkish couple decided to start their marriage off right when they, last week, invited 4,000 Syrian refugees to celebrate with them.
Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat shared their “I do’s” in Kilis province on the Syrian border, which is presently the location where thousands of refugees are fleeing conflict in the neighboring country.
Hatice Avci, a spokesperson for the organization Kimse Yok Mu, told i100.co.uk that the newly married couple donated their savings their families had put together for a traditional two to three-day wedding and celebrated with one big banquet, inviting the refugees nearby.
The father of the groom, Ali Üzümcüoğlu, conjured up the idea to share a bit of wedding joy with those less fortunate.
“I thought that sharing a big delicious dinner with our family and friends was unnecessary, knowing that there are so many people in need living next door. So I came up with this idea and shared it with my son. I’m very happy that he accepted it and they started their new happy journey with such a selfless action,” he said.
Esra Polat, the bride, shared that she was “shocked when Fethullah first told me about the idea but afterwards I was won over by it. It was such a wonderful experience. I’m happy that we had the opportunity to share our wedding meal with the people who are in real need.”
The entire wedding party and all guests worked together to operate the food trucks, sharing the banquet with refugee families.
According to local media, the bride and groom helped distribute the meal themselves, and even took their wedding pictures with people at the camp.
This day will definitely go down in the books. The groom noted that he’d never taken part in something like this before, but it was the “best and happiest moment of my life.”
He said,“Seeing the happiness in the eyes of the Syrian refugee children is just priceless. We started our journey to happiness with making others happy and that’s a great feeling.”
Incredibly, a number of people inspired by the philanthropic wedding are now planning a similar event to take place on their own ‘big day’.
What are your thoughts? Share in the comments section below.