Bride Turns Around When She Hears Voice in Back of Church. Starts Crying When Others Join
Neil and Tricia Swan knew their wedding day would be the happiest day of their lives.
Surrounded by their family and friends, the couple said their vows at their St. Mary’s Church in Kincasslagh, Donegal, Ireland.
During the ceremony, the presiding priest Father Pat Ward prepared to sing the hymn, “How Great Thou Art,” for the couple and congregation.
But the Swans and their guests were in for a huge surprise when Fr. Ward suddenly stopped singing shortly after starting.
That’s when a voice from the back of the church chimed in, picking up the song where the priest left off.
The bride and groom turned around to see who was singing. And as they looked, another man joined in, followed by five more in consecutive lines.
Singers including Daniel O’Donnell, Derek Ryan, Shaun Cuddy, Tony Allen, and Tony Kenny had been hiding in the audience for the surprise.
Finally, the bride realized what was going on, and began to cry tears of joy.
Her best friend and local singer Gavin Boyle had organized a “Catholic flash mob” for the wedding.
In following verses, women in the audience lent their voices to the hymn, and followed the singing men up to the altar in front of Tricia and Neil.
Trisha wiped the tears from her eyes as the touching gesture left her and her new husband speechless.
The singers received a standing ovation from the entire congregation and the newlyweds.
“It was a total surprise,” Tricia said. “The only two people who knew were my friend Gavin who was one of the singers and my sister Fiona who was bridesmaid. It was a huge surprise to everyone else at the church.”
Trisha also added that the singers had not rehearsed the surprise, and only discussed it briefly just before the mass.
But the flash mob was clearly a wonderful surprise for the Swans and their guests that day.
“We had the best day ever and absolutely everybody said that the church was their favourite part of the day,” she said.
Later in the evening at the reception, the singers returned to help the Swans dance the night away.
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