Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat's Wedding Reception #AtoZChallenge

Even as war and xenophobia raged wildly all around them, a Turkish bride and groom decided they wanted their special day to be one remembered for a love beyond two people.

The couple got married in Kilis near the Syrian border, a province that has seen many Syrian refugees flood in due to the heinous civil war occurring for years there.

Inspired by the words of the groom's father,  Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu and Esra Polat chose to invite 4,000 refugees to eat with them and celebrate for a day.

"It was such a wonderful experience. I’m happy that we had the opportunity to share our wedding meal with the people who are in real need," 

- Esra Polat, bride

With the aid of charity organization Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There?), trucks filled with food were arranged and the wedding guests including the bride and groom personally stood and served meals to the refugees.

The couple used the money they had received by family members as gifts for the wedding to help host the party for the refugees.

"Seeing the happiness in the eyes of the Syrian refugee children is just priceless. We started our journey to happiness with making others happy and that’s a great feeling," 

- Fethullah Üzümcüoğlu, bridegroom

"God willing, this will lead to others doing the same and giving food to our Syrian brothers and sisters." 
- Ali Üzümcüoğlu, father of the groom. 

Author's note:

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion.

The list for this year's (2018) Heroes of Kindness can be found here.

Of course, I have been tracking these lovely human beings for years now and have found children as young as six years old and old women in their eighties from across the world who will restore your faith in humanity. You can find the entire list of Real-life Heroes of Kindness and Compassion here.