Wedding Redo for "Burning Love"

Hello, my name is Jennifer I’m 27 and my husband is Russell 29, we are the Greenwalds and we live in southern California. On October 31st 2015 we held our wedding ceremony at Fairmount park in Riverside. It was a nerve-racking day like you would expect. I can recall walking down the aisle with all kinds of butterflies just watching my soon to be husband. The ceremony started like any other, but as we progressed through it our minister (minister Marie ) kept excusing herself and stating she hoped everyone could hear her over the helicopter. I could definitely hear the loud noises interrupting the ceremony but I was a little busy at the time so I didn’t investigate it. We sealed our ceremony with a kiss and we were announced as husband and wife. We both nervously walked down the aisle together where we were met by our coordinator Laura Lorraine . The first thing that came out of her mouth was, “That was great but we all need to evacuate now” my husband said it’s ok let’s move towards our venue the Lakeside room which was located further down the same park and Laura stated “no, the fire has gotten larger we need to evacuate the entire park.” This was the first time I had heard the word "fire". I looked to my right and behind the rose garden the place where our ceremony had taken place, there was a large wall of fire. I don’t think any bride or groom can ever be prepared to hear the words "your wedding reception is cancelled."

Photo courtesy of NBC4 News

Watch our story here, courtesy of NBC4 News


(you can see the bright fire in back of my bridesmaids)
photo by Abril Flores Photography

Thankfully, our coordinator Laura was able to set up a dinner at another Riverside park courtesy of the Riverside County, for later that evening with a few friends and family. We are first and foremost grateful that no one was hurt during the fire and we are also grateful to have family and friends that did not leave our side on our special day. We are thankful that some of the vendors have agreed to come back for a redo at no additional cost but unfortunately we can’t afford to repay some key vendors. Today we ask for help to recreate the wedding celebration we were unable to have, to get the night we have worked for and dreamed of since we were first engaged and to be honest a day I have dreamed of since I was a little girl. All we ask is for our opportunity to experience the moments all newlyweds dream of; to have our first dance as husband and wife, to dance with our parents and be able to take pictures with our family and friends. We thank you in advance for your generosity and want you to know that with your help we will be able to truly celebrate our union.