Nearly 400 couples said “I do” at a massive wedding on an Arkansas football field moments before the moon blocked the sun’s face in this rare celestial phenomenon.
The bride and groom from more than 24 states headed to Russellville, Arkansas, and gathered at the town’s football complex to get married.
The event, titled ‘Elope at the Eclipse’, began at 1:30 pm and ended at 1:45 pm, just minutes before the moon covered the sun on Monday. The eclipse lasted about four minutes.
At the mass wedding, the couples were pronounced husband and wife by the celebrant, sealing their commitment to each other before kissing passionately in the warm sunlight.
The crowd erupted into a standing ovation before taking out their eclipse glasses for the next once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Four hundred couples said ‘I do’ at a mass wedding on a football field in Arkansas moments before the moon blocked the face of the sun in a rare celestial phenomenon.
The event, titled ‘Elope at the Eclipse’, began at 1:30 pm and ended at 1:45 pm, just minutes before the moon covered the sun on Monday. The eclipse lasted about four minutes.
Brides and grooms from more than 24 states headed to Russellville, Arkansas, and gathered at the town’s football complex to get married.
Carlotta Cox and Matthew Holloway told a local media outlet. 40/29News who traveled from Knoxville, Tennessee, for the eclipse wedding.
‘Our original destination was Maine. The totality there lasts like two minutes, and then we were looking for something where the totality was longer.
“And it was here in Arkansas, and then we started looking at private events that were going on, and this is what we found,” they said.
“It looks like the coolest wedding you could ever have,” Cox said, dressed in her stunning wedding dress.
One groom told the outlet that it is a “spiritual experience” to get married under the total solar eclipse.
‘That is a once in a lifetime experience. Who better to spend something like this with than the person you love the most?
‘And what better way to honor that day than to get married and watch a total eclipse?’ he said, as his girlfriend nodded her head.
Another bride said, “We wanted to get married in total, pure darkness and stay there with my best friend and get married,” she said as her fiancé kissed her forehead.
According to NASA, Russellville is one of the best places in the country to view the total solar eclipse.
Newlywed couples even received a refund for the $60 marriage license fee, and the first 100 couples received free wedding gift packages.
The event was a ‘completely free wedding ceremony’, according to the organisers, who also offered free flowers, cakes and drinks to the bride and groom.
At the mass wedding, the couples were pronounced husband and wife by the celebrant, sealing their commitment to each other before kissing passionately in the warm sunlight.
Shortly after the crowd took out their protective gear to witness the celestial phenomenon, they were plunged into darkness as the moon completely covered the sun.
After the eclipse passed, the couples applauded again and proceeded to cut cakes, toast with champagne, and celebrate with their first dance.
The event was a “completely free wedding ceremony,” according to organizers, who also provided free flowers, cakes and drinks to the bride and groom.
Newlywed couples even had their $60 marriage license fee refunded, and the first 100 couples received free wedding gift packages.
“It was a perfect conclusion to our new lives. The sun, the moon and the earth have become one,” one groom told ABC after the wedding.
“It’s a great experience, I wish it could last longer.”
Total solar eclipses occur when the moon moves directly in front of the sun; It should not be confused with the opposite, which would be a lunar eclipse.
Texas was the first to see the moon completely block the face of the sun, and the eclipse later spread to 15 states in the country.
People gather on the National Mall to watch the partial solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 in Washington, DC
A family watches the solar eclipse from Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley, Maine, on Monday, April 8, in one of the last viewings of the day.
Millions of Americans took to the streets to watch the total solar eclipse. Pictured: The solar eclipse seen in Dallas, Texas
More than 400,000 people traveled to Dallas to get in the spotlight during the solar eclipse — more than 1 million eclipse tourists in the Lone Star State on Monday.
Nikki Main of DailyMail.com in Dallas reported that most of the “cosmic tourists” she interacted with had flown in from California, where the view of the eclipse was somewhat miserable.
The eclipse caused animals at the Dallas Zoo to panic as the sky darkened while crowds along the event path applauded the eclipse.
As the eclipse passed its midpoint in its path across the US, areas that have already passed their portion of totality reported immediate traffic causing chaos on the roads.
Crowds gathered in skyscrapers to watch the rare phenomenon as the Big Apple plunged into 90 percent darkness Monday afternoon.
The grand finale took place in Maine, where families took a spring break to take it all in. The last partial eclipse was seen at 4:40 p.m.