A wedding is an important day for any bride-to-be, so of course, she would want to spend it with her nearest and dearest.
However, when more than half of Florida-based Mollie Knight's bridesmaids dropped out, she didn't let it get her down.
Instead, she decided to replace those who couldn't make it—either due to financial reasons or family emergencies—by advertising for a new bridesmaid on social media.
Posting to a Facebook group for brides called The Wedding Connection, on September 9, Knight asked: "Anyone wanna be a bridesmaid in a strangers wedding (my wedding) in 67 days?
"No? Why are so many people dropping [sad-face emoji] [crying-face emoji]."
The bold move was well-received by the group, with over 600 women applying to be a part of her wedding.
Speaking to a local news outlet Knight, who lives in Jacksonville, explained: "I just maybe was hoping for people to kind of sympathize a little bit, or be like, 'Hey, you know, best of luck,'" she said. "Or, 'Would love to if I wasn't so far away.'
"But I never expected so many women to be like, 'Oh, yeah. Hey, there. I got a dress. Oh, I can come. I'll come right now.'"
One person, Catlin Gesford, commented on the post, writing: "Where you at? I got a flight voucher I need to use. I also like to tear it up on the dance floor!"
Kait Nichols offered: "I'm in Jax if you didn't find anyone yet! Just got married in June so I know how important your bridesmaids are!!"
McKenzie Albrecht added: "I'm down. I'll be the old childhood friend... I can make up some killer stories of us "growing up together"."
In a statement to Newsweek, Knight revealed: "I feel pretty good about it actually, I got absolutely no hate or negativity from it.
"It was so heartwarming to see women uplifting other women!"
In the end Knight and her sister sifted through the comments to select Kylee Cook, who lives close to Jacksonville, in Tampa.
Knight explained to Newsweek: "I am so happy with who I chose! We ended up being strangely alike, and I am absolutely looking forward to my wedding with Kylee and the other five bridesmaids! I couldn't be more ecstatic!"
Chosen bridesmaid Cook revealed what she thought when she first read the post, in an interview with First Coast News, explaining: "I felt bad for her. I thought, 'What would happen if this was my wedding?'
"I'm planning my wedding too and I thought, 'This is awful.' And so, you know, girls help and girls. I said, 'I'll do it."
Cook will be attending the wedding, which takes place on November 14, alongside her fiancé. She revealed that he was keen to get involved: "I said, 'Do you want to go to a wedding with me?' And he said, 'Yeah, sure. Whose wedding is it?'"
"I said, 'Well, I mean, technically I don't really know. I just know her name.' And he's like, 'Okay.' And I said 'And also I'm a bridesmaid.'" she said. "He was like, 'Oh, okay.'"
Knight also invited some of the women who applied to be bridesmaids to attend as guests on her big day.
Writing on the Facebook group in a second post on September 16, the bride-to-be explained: "Thank you to all of the beautiful women all over the country and here in Jacksonville who were ready and willing to help me out!
"It is absolutely astonishing how many women got to my inbox just wanting to uplift other women! For those of you who want to attend the wedding I would love to extend a last minute formal invite!
"Just pm me about it and I'll send you the link to RSVP! Serious inquires only though please as we will need our final guest count soon!"
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