When Stephanie Mirkin saw President Barack Obama swinging his club at Torrey Pines Golf Course next to her wedding altar from her nearby hotel room, she giddily pressed up against the window to get a better look. She watched as Obama drove his golf cart to the ceremony area near the 18th hole and started shaking hands with guests.
Then Mirkin bolted from her second-floor suite and into the crowd, wedding dress and all, to hug the commander in chief before her sunset wedding Sunday. Tears rolled down her cheeks, she told KGTV.
Before the wedding, event photographers Jeff and Erin Youngren joked that the venue was near Rancho Valencia, the resort Obama was staying at during his trip to the San Diego area. If only the bride and groom had picked that venue for their nuptials, the photographers mused during the car ride over. They were in for a surprise.
"Nothing about this presidential drop-in negatively impacted the day. In fact, the mood became so fun, laid back, and celebratory, that it was one of the most joyful weddings we’ve ever been at – ever," Erin Youngren wrote in a blog post.
