Kate Mang and Amber Plyler planned to elope and get married on the beach at Isle of Palms, South Carolina in front of their children and a small group of friends. But heavy rains and strong cold winds ruined the plans and the couple’s hotel wouldn’t accommodate their request for a small meeting room to hold the ceremony.
That’s when the staff and customers at a nearby Starbucks stepped in.
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The strangers transformed the store from a coffee shop into a wedding chapel, complete with an aisle runner and live cello music. It was a Christmas miracle.
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Mang and Plyler met while they both worked for the chain as baristas and some of the friends who’d come for the ceremony still worked there. A couple of phone calls later, a local store manager agreed to host the impromptu wedding and asked the couple to give him an hour to get ready.
“So essentially our wedding was almost fully comprised of Starbucks partners plus close friends, our photographer Kaity Hughs, and our children,” Plyler told HuffPost. “So it seemed like a perfectly fitting idea to see if a local Starbucks would allow a short ceremony.”
Melissa Bigner, the editor of Charleston Weddings magazine, happened to be working in the store and overheard what was happening. As staff started moving furniture and cleaning up, she got on the phone with a local event planner who quickly brought over the runner and wall-hangings.
A staff member ran home to grab her cello to provide music while Bigner and others helped to transform the space into an adorable wedding venue.
“These people had never met us and they just dove in to help salvage our wedding day,” Mang said. “They helped to make it the most magical day of our lives. It truly meant the world to us.”
“The stars aligned perfectly. Along with the help of our best friends and an amazing group of Starbucks partners — we truly did have the best day ever!”
