A Central Texas couple exchanged vows under the fading afternoon light of the Great American Solar Eclipse on April 8, just as it approached 100% totality.
“It was powerful,” the groom, Kelby Noack of Waco, Texas, told Fox News Digital. “It was awesome.”
When Noack, 35, a medical sales representative, and Giselle Vento, 33, a music teacher, got engaged three months ago, they felt the stars had aligned in their favor.
“I love the author Paolo Coello, and every time I read the phrase, ‘I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you,’ it resonated with me,” Vento said.
“I’ve always known God has the right person for me. And he’s here.”
As they were looking at possible wedding dates, Vento, an elementary music teacher, had a cosmic idea — and instead, it would be the moon and sun that aligned.
“I remember I was with my kindergarten class, and we were singing a song about the eclipse,” she said. “I thought, ‘You know what? That would be cool.’”
Plans were set into motion for an intimate backyard wedding where nature and would serve as the backdrop for a sacred ceremony.
In the path of 100% totality, Waco, Texas, quickly became an eclipse viewing hot spot.
But forecasts of clouds and even thunderstorms loomed over the days and weeks leading up to the big event — which had some eclipse watchers concerned.
As of Monday morning, it was cloudy with a 74% chance of rain.
“A lot of people had said, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry it’s going to rain on your wedding,’” Vento said.
“But we decided to release control and allow it to just happen. That’s something Kelby has taught me — to allow life to come as it comes and be grateful for it.”
When they woke up on Monday morning, the skies were gray.
“Even just waiting for the wedding to start, it was pretty cloudy,” Noack said. “You could see [the eclipse] and then you couldn’t see it.”
In his grandparent’s backyard, overlooking Lake Waco, Noack walked to the altar to “Clair de Lune” (Moonlight) by Claude Debussy.
Then, Vento walked down the aisle to “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles.
“I thought to incorporate the sun and moon would be amazing,” Vento said.
At 1:38 p.m. CST, it was time for the total eclipse — and suddenly it came into view with the corona on full display.
“It was perfect,” Noack said. “I can’t believe that the clouds opened up the way that they did.”
Noack and Vento completed their vows just before that moment — and during the 4 minutes and 12 seconds of totality, the sky grew dark, the birds got quiet, and the air felt cool, the couple said.
“It was something that was beyond understanding,” Vento said. “Just magical. We all got to experience the wedding and then the magical corona.”
The rare event turned out to be everything the bride imagined and more, she said.
“In 40 days, we put out in the universe how we wanted it to be,” Vento said.
“And people just came together — our families, everybody and everything aligned for us to be able to do this. And when I walked out and saw everything — I just thought this was beyond my prayers. This was beyond what we were expecting,” she added.
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