Catch-up ceremony and solidarity for the couple evacuated during their wedding during the Aumelas fire

On Tuesday July 26, a huge fire ravaged the Aumelas plateau near Gignac (Hérault). Several dozen residents were evacuated, among them the guests and bride and groom of Château Bas d’Aumelas. 70 people from all over the world celebrated the wedding of Mariana and Aurélien, a young Franco-Brazilian couple from Jacou. Everyone had to leave hastily in the middle of a meal. “I was eating the first bite when the owner told us to leave, right away”, recalls Mariana. “The last words we said on the microphone were “this is not a joke, we must evacuate immediately”“, adds Aurélien. A day organized for two years, which turns into a nightmare.

Touched by this misadventure, the Montpellier photographer who was to immortalize this day, Jordan Camacho contacted his friend Dove Belz, who specializes in wedding planning. Between them, they used their network to organize a festive afternoon for the young couple without it costing them an extra euro. A sort of remedial marriage. “It was impossible to leave this married couple like that on an event that was traumatic for them. I thought to myself that’s the least of it. We will try to offer them a new day. We will try to mobilize to ensure the maximum for them.” explains Dove Beltz, himself surprised by the solidarity he generated.

Outpouring of generosity

Thus, the “La Barraque de Sérignac” estate in the Gard opened its doors to them on August 10th. Where Aurélien and Mariana were able with Aurélien’s parents to take advantage of a beautiful day to beautiful souvenir photos of their wedding. Mariana was able to have her hair done for free by Wendy, from Sublim’hair in Quissac, she was also made up by Claire from So Glam in La Calmette.

Constance from Cocotuuch Déco de Mauguio provided the decoration, and Déborah from “Une fleur en Cévennes” in Saint-Florent-sur-Auzonnet provided the floral arrangements, the bride’s bouquet, and the flowers for the groom’s buttonhole.

Maéva Fuster, from the “Grand” caterer in Montpellier, provided the wedding snack and refreshments.

We wanted to prove that we had a big heart

“It was incredible. There has really been an outpouring of generosity at the provider level. The only thing we wanted to do, it was to prove that it was possible to do that in the middle of the season and that in addition to being wedding providers, we were also people with a big heart and that we could really give of ourselves in difficult times. We made sure to be able to make them dream and to be able to put them on a little cloud on D-Day.”

Newlyweds on a cloud

The 70 guests, mostly from Brazil, the United States, and Taiwan, unfortunately could not be present for this new ceremony. But the newlyweds were still able to experience a memorable afternoon. “I feel like it’s still a dream. It’s fantastic. They all have their hearts on their sleeves, and not one of them has asked us for anything. It gives hope when you see behavior like that. How touching“, confides Aurélien.

And, ironically: this new ceremony, which took place on August 10, takes place 1 year to the day after the first date set by the bride and groom in 2021. It had been postponed to July 26, 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19. Many international borders were still closed at the time.