A Turkish couple with big hearts began their married life by throwing a wedding feast for thousands of Syrian refugees.
Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat were married last week in the southern Turkish city of Kilis, near the Syrian border. The city is temporary home for 4,000 Syrian refugees, a fraction of the 1 million refugees in Turkey.
Traditional Turkish weddings are three-day affairs, and end with a lavish dinner for friends and family. The groom's father, Ali, was the first to think that money raised for the wedding would be better spent helping their less-fortunate neighbors.
"We thought that on such a happy day, we would share the wedding party with our Syrian brothers and sisters," he told local media.
"I was shocked," the bride told the Independent. She said she quickly came around to the idea, and helped serve the refugees Thursday in her bridal finery, complete with a golden tiara.
The couple borrowed a truck from local refugee charity Kimse Yok Mu and paid for the food with money that had been donated for their wedding.
"It was such a wonderful experience," the bride said. "I’m happy that we had the opportunity to share our wedding meal with the people who are in real need."
"Seeing the happiness in the eyes of the Syrian refugee children is just priceless," said the groom. "We started our journey to happiness with making others happy and that’s a great feeling."
Even better, the groom said his friends started talking about doing the same thing at their weddings. Let's hope this is the start of an altruistic trend.