The couple had 200 guests scheduled to fly in from the states, but that all changed when Hamas launched its brutal attacks last weekend.
Joy in the midst of war.
This bride and groom from New York went forward with their nuptials in Israel despite the chaos surrounding them.
"It was surreal," says Channi Greenwall.
She and Jonathan Bichoupan had planned to get married in Israel this Sunday.
The couple had 200 guests scheduled to fly in from the states, but that all changed when Hamas launched its brutal attacks last weekend.
"We literally had no family, no friends, no one," says Jonathan.
The couple was still determined to get married though, so they held their wedding in Jerusalem a few days earlier than expected.
They even had some new guests.
When local students heard about the wedding, they showed up in droves to dance and sing with the couple.
Channi and Jonathan didn't even know the 400 guests celebrating with them, who surrounded the couple and chanted: "The people of Israel live."
"It's not even that surprising because it's such an embodiment of the Jewish spirit and the Jewish people," says Channi. "We always are there for each other."
On Wednesday, the newlyweds returned home to New York and Inside Edition had a surprise waiting for them at the airport.
The guests who could not make the wedding were at the airport to greet the happy couple.
Julia Kingsley was supposed to be a bridesmaid.
"To see everyone come together, people she doesn't know, I don't know, none of us know, it was incredible," says Julia.
A ray of light in the bleakest of times.
"We never could've imagined how it turned out," says Jonathan. "It was above and beyond even our imagination."
He then adds: "It made us realize that our family is much bigger than we thought."
Related Stories
