A monster wave crashed an outdoor wedding reception in Hawaii leaving the bride and groom and their guests dripping wet and running for cover.
Despite Mother Nature’s unexpected arrival, the Saturday wedding held at Hulihe’e Palace in Kailua-Kona carried on.
The bride, Riley Carson Murphy, took it all in stride, posting the memorable event on her Instagram.
She also added that her wedding cake ‘luckily made it,’ despite earlier reports that it was destroyed, KHON2 News that
The high surf ‘swept away half of our reception,’ she wrote. ‘My husband Dillon Murphy and I enjoyed a ‘memorable night’ surrounded by the people we love.’
‘Life isn’t always predictable and I can’t wait to ride every high and every low with my new husband,’ she said, in part.
Hurricane Darby, churning 870 miles south of the islands, brought high winds and high waves to the central Pacific island and was likely responsible for the wet wedding drama.
Bergstrom captured the awe-shocking moments the colossal wave surfaced crashing into a sea wall at the beachside resort on Hawaii’s Big Island as guests were mingling and enjoying the h’ors duoveures and cocktails.
A video that was posted on social media shows some partygoers scrambling for shelter with cocktail in hand
The video that was posted on social media and had more than 300k views as of Monday shows some partygoers scrambling for shelter with cocktail in tow.
As others stood by taking video footage of the wicked wave that rolled in uninvited. Guests including Kenneth Bergstrom caught it all on video.
Bergstrom captured the awe-shocking moments the colossal wave surfaced crashing into a sea wall at the beachside resort on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Guests were mingling and enjoying the hors d’oeuvres and cocktails when the colossal wave struck.
Seconds before it was about to hit, once person is overheard saying, ‘This is coming for sure.’
There were no reports of anyone injured and the couples three-tiered wedding cake was reportedly swallowed by the powerful wave
As the colossal wave was heading towards the wedding reception, once person is heard saying, ‘This is coming for sure’
Seconds later the massive wave swallowed up the tables that had been elegantly decorated with floral centerpieces.
In its aftermath, guests are seen jumping from one puddle to another. Some are overhead on the video laughing as others were in disbelief repeating, ‘O-M-G!’
One guest even remarked that ‘It isn’t even high tide.’
There were no reports of anyone injured and the couples three-tiered wedding cake was reportedly swallowed by the powerful wave. It is unclear if that is what actually happened.
Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources closed several south facing beaches the day before the wedding, in anticipation for historically high waves.
The agency said that the south swell was ‘expected to be the largest seen in Hawaii over the last decade,’ according to Maui News.
The wedding day surf was expected to rise 10 to 14 feet on Saturday, then build another 12 to 16 feet with 20-foot sets anticipated for Saturday night into Sunday.
A wave also crashed over a two-story condo that flooded out some of the homes and parking lot in the area of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.
On Saturday, many of the south-facing shores of all Hawaiian Island saw ‘historic’ surf conditions, according to the National Weather Service with swells up to 20 feet
A homeowner running away from the wave that hit her condo on Saturday when the wave hit
Hurricane Darby did reach the level of a Category 3 hurricane before it churned offshore
‘It’s flooding everywhere,’ someone yelled as the giant wave hit.
On Saturday, many of the south-facing shores of all Hawaiian Island saw ‘historic’ surf conditions, according to the National Weather Service.
Winds from the storm reached 100 mph.
Hurricane Darby did reach the level of a Category 3 hurricane before it churned offshore.
The Central Pacific sees four or five cyclones a year, corresponding with peak wedding season from June 1 to November.
