Couple gets married during once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse
Keegan Wright and Courtney Rougeau said "I do" on April 8.
When Keegan Wright heard there would be an event that let couples get married during the total solar eclipse, he couldn't pass up the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Wright told "Good Morning America" he pitched the "Elope at the Eclipse" group wedding event, one he thought would be "a total blast," to his fiancée Courtney Rougeau and she came around to the idea.
"She was wanting something a little more traditional. It took awhile but I finally convinced her to get married [during] the eclipse," Wright told "GMA" ahead of their nuptials.
The "Elope at the Eclipse" event, where 350 couples shared vows, took place Monday at the Total Eclipse of the Heart festival in Russellville, Arkansas. Couples paid $100 for festival access and a toast, officiant and a celestial-themed wedding cake inspired by the cosmos were all included for their big day.
The memorable ceremony ended minutes before the solar eclipse's path of totality, which created a thin sliver of light around the moon, resembling a wedding ring in the sky.
"It is much more than what I imagine. This is breathtaking. It's like nothing I've ever seen before," Rougeau said as the solar eclipse unfolded.
As Rougeau watched the celestial phenomenon alongside her now-husband, she said it was simply "amazing" to witness.
"I know I keep using that word but there's nothing else that describes it. Like, the happiest I've ever been and to experience this with him, it's really incredible," Rougeau continued.
"There are no words," Wright added. "And to get to do this with so many other people sharing the same moment, is amazing."
Monday's total solar eclipse saw the moon pass between the sun and the Earth, casting a shadow and blocking the face of the sun. Arkansas was the third state to see the historic solar eclipse and 13 states overall were in the path of totality. The next total solar eclipse that can be visible from the U.S. won't be until August 2044.
Wright and Rougeau will celebrate their honeymoon on the island of St. Croix, part of the U.S. Virgin Islands.