posted 06-30-2005 12:45 PM         

Wedding was canceled, but not the party

Put yourself in Katie Hosking's place.

Do you:

a) Pull a runaway-bride stunt?

b) Stay in your room and cry?

c) Turn an unfortunate event into a party for others?

After calling off her wedding 12 days before the planned June 18 ceremony, Hosking and her parents went with the third choice on the list.

With a contract signed for a 150-guest reception at the Echo Falls golf and country club, it was too late for Bill and Susan Hosking to recover much of the money intended for their 22-year-old daughter's wedding. The Lake Stevens couple had made a $2,500 down payment and recently wrote another check for the $6,200 balance.

Susan Hosking said once she and her husband "got past the panic," they decided to host the dinner anyway. But their amended guest list included homeless people at the Interfaith Family Shelter in Everett.

"They contacted one of our volunteers and asked if they knew of a shelter so they could donate this party," said Carol Oliva, manager of the shelter, operated by the Interfaith Association of Snohomish County.

The shelter is in a former convent across from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, where the wedding was to have been.

"They invited us for dinner and dancing," Oliva said. About 40 shelter residents, staff members and volunteers joined the Hosking family. The shelter arranged carpools to the club between Monroe and Woodinville.

"They had a DJ and really good music. It was a warm, friendly atmosphere. The food was delicious. It was a nice break, with people not worrying about anything for one night," Oliva said. "Toward the end of the evening, they packed up all the leftover food and we got to bring it back to the shelter."

The idea came from Susan Hosking's brother-in-law in New York. "His thought was to donate the food to a shelter," she said.

With would-be bride Katie, her young daughter Lindsay, her parents and four bridesmaids at the dinner, more than 50 were there. The buffet had been planned for 150.

"That food would help feed people at the shelter for another three or four days," Susan Hosking said. "With the notoriety of the runaway bride, I would like people to know that these things do happen, and there is another outlet. The money is spent."

Without a wedding cake, chef Michael Greb added strawberry shortcake to his menu.

Understandably, Katie Hosking didn't share what happened. She simply said, "We broke up on June 6, and the wedding was supposed to be June 18."

Imagine the pain that could be spared if others about to walk down the aisle were as wise and brave. At her reception-that-wasn't, this bride who didn't run wore "a cute strapless dress."

"We all danced. I still got to dance with my dad," she said.

Susan Hosking said one mother from the shelter had a son in a wheelchair. "That mother took that child out on the dance floor and picked him up and danced with him. It was a beautiful sight.