Sometimes finding the love of your life comes earlier in life, and sometimes, it feels like an endless search. Regardless of when love comes along, the tough part is making it last—that’s the real test, and that’s when a marriage truly begins.
For this woman, the test came right before she tied the knot, and she responded in a really strange way…
Change of Heart
Like many other happy couples, she and her boyfriend at the time decided to get engaged and began to plan their wedding. While they planned their big day, life got a little strange and slowly she started to think maybe they weren’t meant to be. As the big day neared, she spent many nights crying herself to sleep, trying to figure out what to do…
A Week Away
She felt like it was too late to call everything off—the wedding was just a week away. But she knew deep down she couldn’t marry him now. She had to make a hard choice…
A Perfect Life
Kolbie Sanders was 24 at the time and from the outside looking in, it seemed like she had a perfect life. She was pretty, was engaged to the love of her life, and had a fairytale wedding coming up…
The Next Step
Kolbie and her fiancé, Skylar, had been dating for four years before they got engaged. They had been engaged for 18 months leading up to their wedding day. After being together for as long they had, marriage just felt like the next step…
Helpful Family
Everyone in their lives was thrilled for the pair, especially Kolbie’s mom and sister. They helped Kolbie with every step of the planning process, from finding the venue to sampling wedding cakes, they were really helpful. When it came to choosing a dress, they helped Kolbie find the perfect one…
Everyone thought they were a match made in heaven. Kolbie felt like she was being drowned by everyone else’s excitement and didn’t have much time to think about what she actually wanted…
Picture Perfect
Kolbie and Skyler picked the best of everything they could afford for their big day. They chose the best suit and gown, decorations, and venue that money could buy. They had chosen the Belle Vue in Tyler, Texas to say their “I dos,” just about everything was set…
Paying the Price
It was a highly sought-after venue, one that they had fallen in love with, too. It came at a steep price, but it felt like the perfect venue for them to exchange vows, and so they handed over the deposit happily, excited for what was to come…
A Heavy Heart
Everything was paid for now—from the decorations to the dress and suits, the flowers, the caterer, all of it. Kolbie, though, was still going to bed with a heavy heart, questioning whether this was what she truly wanted. She stared at the ceiling all night long…
Sadness
It was down to the wire now, they were just seven days out from the big day. But Kolbie just couldn’t ignore how she was feeling and she knew it wasn’t right. She felt an extreme sadness that she could no longer put off, she knew she had to do something about it…
She had barely slept, the guilt was weighing on her like a boulder. She realized that she could no longer ignore the fact that something was wrong and she had to confront Skyler…
Serious Anxiety
She couldn’t hide her anxiety and even Skyler had begun to pick up on it. She had red and puffy eyes the next morning and looked a mess. She looked up and told him something shocking…
The Talk
So much work had already been put into their wedding and so much money. But for some reason, the bride-to-be did not feel right. “We need to talk,” Kolbie said to Skyler. He could tell just by the look in her eyes that something was wrong…
Telling the Truth
As they sat on opposite sides of the breakfast table, he could see it written all over her face. Tears began to stream down Kolbie’s face as she began to talk. She needed to get this off her chest…
No Spark
She had to be honest with him about how she was feeling. The truth was, while she loved Skyler, there was no spark between them anymore. She realized that for months now there hadn’t been any excitement in their relationship and this was something she had to open up about…
Wedding Plans
Weddings take a lot of planning and effort, and this was not lost on Kolbie. This was the hardest decision she’d ever have to make and in the middle of all the wedding plans, she hadn’t given herself any time to reflect. This was the end…
Calling it Off
She knew, sitting at the table, that it was time to break the news, so that’s what she did. She broke off her engagement and wedding to Skyler. Because the wedding was so close, it was too late for any refunds. This was the worst feeling in the world…
The Idea
All of that preparation had just washed down the drain. She thought about their families and their dream venue and realized it was all for nothing now. But then, she had an idea…
Silver Lining
Kolbie knew that the venue she had booked for the wedding was a coveted location, so if they weren’t going to use the Belle Vue she wanted someone else to use it. She was determined to turn this sad situation around…
Donation
Kolbie brainstormed what she would do now. She decided to make a call to the owners of the venue and see what she could do. Within the next 24 hours, she finally decided what she would do—she was going to donate the wedding to a deserving couple. Who would this be…
Taking a Shot
Kolbie took to Facebook to look for other couples that might be interested. She created a post asking if there was a couple out there willing to get married on October 20th. She knew this was a shot in the dark…
Free Services
Since the venue was very popular, Kolbie got plenty of responses. Among them, caterers and make-up artists, photographers, and dressmakers all reached out to offer their services free of charge for the chosen couple. She just had to choose who it would be…
Random Draw
After reading through the comments, she wrote down the names of a dozen or so couples. She had to find a fair way to choose who would win the date. She narrowed it down to the two couples with the most touching stories and entered them in a random draw…
A Fateful Tale
In the end, though, the winning couple had an amazing story, and she just knew that fate had brought them together. Turning this depressing personal moment into one that would bring so much joy to others would help Kolbie get through this…
Struggling
In the end, Kolbie chose Halie Hipsher and her fiancé, Matthew Jones, who had financial issues. Their story touched Kolbie’s heart…
Financial Problems
The couple had been engaged for a year but were struggling to pay for a wedding. They knew they were a ways away from being able to do so, and the reason was pretty heartwarming…
The Reason
Halie and Matthew actually already had a baby named Riley. Their story was what compelled Kolbie to choose them for their big day. Kolbie revealed why on her Facebook page…
Not Much Time
Halie told Kolbie that her grandfather had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and because she was extremely close to him she worried every day that he might not make it to her wedding day. While they struggled financially, she knew she didn’t have time to spare…
Overjoyed
When Halie found out that Kolbie had selected her and Matthew for the dream wedding, she was overjoyed and emotional. This was the break they had been hoping for…
The Gift
Halie and Matthew had been struggling for long and this was such a relief. Now Halie would have the best gift at her wedding, her grandfather. He would be the guest of honor…
Going Anyways
After they were selected, Halie insisted that Kolbie attend the wedding that she so graciously gave to them. Kolbie was thrilled to join them and help out as much as she could with everything. It was bittersweet, but she knew this was the right thing to do…
A Dream Day
Halie could finally change her name from Hipsher to Jones. This day was an absolute dream—everything they wanted and more. The best part was… Paw-Paw made it…
A Selfless Act
“Throwing together everything on short notice was difficult but worked out. Walking down the aisle was breathtaking and I wouldn’t want to change one second of the day because it is all I could’ve dreamed of and more,” Halie said in an interview. And it was all possible because of one selfless woman…
Viral Post
As for the bride who called off her wedding, Kolbie found happiness in giving this dream day to another couple. “It was fate that I drew her name,” she said. Her first post on Facebook after the wedding went viral and everyone was curious to learn more about these deserving newlyweds…
Natural
New stations reached out to cover the story which inspired thousands of people. Kobie makes sure she stays humble: “This was natural to me, I didn’t have to think about it,” she added, “I’m really glad that she won. Her reaction definitely made all of this worth it.”