Story highlights
An Army couple had to relocate their wedding because of the President's golf game
They were informed after they first invited him to the wedding and he declined
Obama called the couple over the weekend and apologized
President Barack Obama apologized to a couple after his golf game in Hawaii forced the bride and groom to relocate their wedding Sunday.
According to a report out from Bloomberg, the couple – both captains in the Army – had previously invited Obama to their wedding, knowing that he’d likely return to his family’s vacation spot for the holidays.
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The couple, Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., received an RSVP on Saturday from the President declining the invitation but sending them good wishes.
Later on Saturday they were told they’d have to relocate their wedding venue away from the golf course, which is located on Marine Corps Base Hawaii, because the President was planing to play golf.
“It was emotional, especially for her,” Jamie McCarthy, the groom’s sister, told Bloomberg. “She’s the bride and in less than 24 hours they had to change everything they had planned.”
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Obama regularly plays on the course, and anyone planning an event there is told ahead of time that plans may be reshuffled at the last minute when the President in town, according to a manager from the company that handled logistics for the wedding.
Naile Brenna, the manager, said they had alternative options on stand-by, and the couple ended up having their wedding at a “much prettier and much nicer venue” near the home of the base’s commanding officer, which has a view near the 16th hole.
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After Bloomberg asked for a response from the administration, the President called the bride. McCarthy said Obama apologized and congratulated the couple, and the phone call “made their day.”
The White House declined to comment on the story Monday after it was published.
It wasn’t the first time Obama’s plans interfered with a wedding this year. In October, a bride was late to her wedding in Chicago thanks to stalled traffic from the president’s motorcade.
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CNN’s Maeve Reston contributed to this report.
