WIDOWED COUPLE’S BEACH WEDDING GOT A DOUBLE RAINBOW
Two widowed people who met in a Facebook group for grieving spouses had a double rainbow wedding on a North Carolina beach, and both said it felt like a sign. Michelle and Scott Ellermets married on September 7, 2024, on the sand in the Outer Banks, after rain that had threatened the day cleared up shortly before the ceremony.
“It was just a nice confirmation,” Scott told PEOPLE.
The weather had been the main worry. The sun came out about 10 minutes before the ceremony began, PEOPLE reported, and during the ceremony the drizzle eased and the wind died down.
Two losses, one Facebook group
Michelle and Scott each belonged to a Facebook group for widowed people in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. Scott noticed Michelle there and found out she was friends with his sister on Facebook. ABC News reported they first connected in December 2023.
Both had already lost a longtime spouse. Michelle was married to her first husband, Jonathan, for more than 23 years, and ABC News reported he died of a heart attack in January 2023. Scott was married to his first wife, Lisa, for 29 years, and she died following an illness in June 2023.
Michelle was 50 and Scott was 59 when they told their story on Good Morning America, Yahoo Life reported.
A family affair
The kids were on board. “We are so thankful for the fact both of our children have been so supportive. They’re actually the ones who wanted us to have a wedding,” Michelle told PEOPLE.
They also pitched in. Scott’s daughter Jill, a part-time wedding planner, helped with the wedding, and Michelle’s daughter Alyssa, who works at a florist, helped too. The couple’s grandsons were ring bearers, while Scott’s granddaughter and Michelle’s niece were flower girls. Michelle’s three sons walked her down the aisle.
The rainbows arrive
A rainbow showed up just after the ceremony, as photographer Chelsea Schaefer started taking pictures. Then a second one appeared.
The newlyweds did not notice it until Schaefer pointed it out. Scott said they sat and stared at it for a few minutes. “It was the brightest boldest rainbow we’d ever seen,” he told PEOPLE.
Schaefer paused the wedding portraits to photograph the couple beneath the rainbows and to capture video. “The rainbow stayed for about 40 minutes,” she told TODAY.
“I’ve never witnessed anything like it; it was truly magnificent,” she said.
She put together a video montage of the wedding and posted it to TikTok. ABC News reported it had nearly 4 million views by September 19, 2024, and Woman’s World later described it as having more than 4 million. Good Morning America picked up the couple’s story too.
“Their blessing”
For the couple, the rainbows meant more than good lighting. Scott described the sight as “their blessing,” a nod to Lisa and Jonathan.
Michelle said the pair believed their late spouses would want them to be happy. “We feel they would want us to be happy,” she told TODAY.
She also talked about faith. “We really feel like God led us here and brought us together,” Michelle told PEOPLE. “The rainbows almost seemed to be a confirmation of that.”
