Community Corner

Iowa Couple Receives Surprise Wedding Gift from President Obama

The couple's wedding at Living History Farms was complicated by a last-minute rally earlier the same day at the historic site by President Obama. To make amends, he sent them a gift and a note.

One Iowa couple recently received a wedding gift that they won't soon forget, according to the Huffington Post.

Reddit user itgirlragdoll posted the story of a friend whose Sept. 1 wedding at Living History Farms was crashed by President Obama.

The Obama campaign organized a last-minute rally at the historic Urbandale site the same day as the wedding of Sayli and Jon Gibbs, according to WOI-TV.

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Thankfully for the Gibbses, the rally ended about an hour before the start of the wedding. The newlyweds received a gift and this handwritten note from the Commander-in-Chief: "Congratulations on the wedding. Michelle and I wish you a great life together. Barack Obama."

The wedding present was something every newly married couple needs: a silver tray and a mint julep cup.

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The couple laughs about it now but just before the nuptials the stress sank in, WOI reported. The Gibbses learned the president might be staying late and they couldn't get in the parking lot the morning of the wedding.

"We had to walk across Hickman with my wedding dress and suitcase," Sayli told WOI. "We had about three different girls helping carrying it."

The dress survived, and the president left early enough that the wedding went off without a hitch. And the couple has a wedding story to share that few can rival.


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