Woman met a man on her hen do, invited him to her wedding and then ended up marrying him instead

One woman ended up meeting a man on her hen do, whom she then invited to her wedding.

But, in a bit of a dramatic, straight-out-of-a-TV-storyline plot twist, she ended up marrying him instead.

Tarlie Silva, from Virginia, USA, went to North Carolina for her bachelorette back in September 2019 when a guy introduced himself, having been 'third wheeling'.

After meeting his friend Julio and another woman, they bonded through clubbing and social media connections.

"I sent them a picture of the wedding invitation and they said that they would come,” the 27-year-old said, having ‘barely spoke’ to Julio during the hen do. "On the morning of the wedding, we hadn't heard any updates. I thought that maybe they'd just agreed [to come], but they didn't plan on doing it."

She says the pair barely spoke during her hen do or wedding. (Kennedy News and Media)

But they eventually showed up at the reception, being treated like ‘celebrities’ after having shared the ‘funny story’ of how Tarlie and her friends had met the guests.

“Julio danced with my grandmother and with my mother, and we all immediately ran up to take pictures with him."

While the pair exchanged some ‘small talk’ at the wedding, there wasn’t much contact between them.

And in the meantime, Tarlie’s marriage quickly broke down, as she and her husband decided that the wedding was a mistake and called it quits after six weeks.

By December 2019, she and Julio began messaging on Snapchat.

"I don't think Julio thought that I was still happily married [when he messaged me] because we were friends on Snapchat, and when you break up with somebody on your story, you kind of make it obvious,” she explained.

"I don't think he thought I was still married - I think it was pretty clear I wasn't.”

Julio was part of a 'communal invite' and Tarlie wasn't sure they'd actually show. (Kennedy News and Media)

She said the pair soon realised they had ‘a lot in common’ and about a week later, they went on a double date with his sister and boyfriend.

"We met halfway in Virginia Beach and we've been together ever since."

The pair ended up getting engaged a year later and married in April 2021, now sharing two sons together.

Looking back on the unique meet-cute, Tarlie reckons the pair were meant to be and is glad she didn't end up calling off her first wedding when she had cold feet.

"I would have saved people a lot of heartache, time and money if I had just called the wedding off,” she said. "In my head I thought everyone has cold feet - you see that in movies and you hear about it all the time so I thought that it was a normal feeling.

"If I'd called the wedding off I would have never went on my bachelorette trip me and my husband [Julio] never would have met.”

They've now been married for four years. (Kennedy News and Media)

Having hardly spoken at the hen do or her first wedding, Tarlie really thinks it all happened ‘for a reason’ and disagrees with suggestions that it’s ‘inappropriate’ how she and Julio met.

Pointing out that the invite was actually sent to the friend, she added: “He was just invited on that communal invitation when I sent a picture of it, we only actually spoke after the wedding.

"I'm glad that it happened in the way it did.

"I think it worked out how it should have worked out, we have a beautiful family, we have two little boys now, and we're super happy."