Couples eager to elope under the eclipse in Arkansas

Wedding fireworks are no match for getting married under a solar eclipse.

Nearly 300 couples are anticipating tying the knot Monday in an Arkansas ceremony, moments before the moon lines up perfectly between the Earth and sun, casting parts of North America in darkness.

Elope at the Eclipse in Russellville, Ark., comes with all the traditional wedding necessities — an officiant, a cake and flowers — for free. Couples must buy a wedding license and an admission ticket.

Organizer Rodney Williams told KATV in Little Rock it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.

”It’s really grown way above my original expectations,” he said. “I think the emotions from seeing the eclipse take place are just going to be a synergistic effect that heightens everything and brings tears to the eyes. Seeing the smiling faces and hopefully seeing stars and just being a part of that is going to make me happy.”

Officials in Russellville are planning a three-day eclipse festival set to kickoff Saturday. The state is in the path of total darkness, as is Erie, where officials are planning for an onslaught of visitors.

Couples are traveling from numerous states, planning to get hitched Monday in Arkansas. The eclipse is expected to peak there at 1:50 p.m. local time.

One couple, coming from Illinois, registered for the wedding before even getting engaged, they told KARK in Little Rock.

“We did it backwards,” said Mark Mosbacher, who plans to marry Lonnie Pope.

For some couples, the mass ceremony offers a low-stress, inexpensive opportunity to tie the knot and have a unique memory from their wedding day. Others were seeking eclipse viewing locations in the path of total darkness and stumbled upon the chance to get married during the event, they told KHBS in Arkansas.

More on the eclipse

Couples are coming from New York, Montana and California, and elsewhere in the country, Williams told KHBS.

There’s still time to register at totaleclipserussellville.com/elope.