A California wedding scene: Beach on one side, fire on the other

Their love burned bright, but so did the chaparral around them.

As a Long Beach couple stood at the wedding altar Saturday preparing to say “I do,” flames from a fast-moving brush fire ran up and down Calabasas hillsides, triggering a mandatory evacuation for nearby communities.

The order to clear out included the 50-person wedding party at the Inn of the Seventh Ray in Topanga, CBS2-TV reported.

“At first we kind of went into panic and chaos,” wedding coordinator Kelly Hancock told the outlet.

Video from the wedding shows a caravan of cars leading out of the area past the venue with a plume of smoke in the distance as a yellow and orange haze fills the air.

Though the fire torched the couple’s plans, the group got creative and headed for the beach.

Everyone in attendance helped in packing up the wedding – from the cake to the DJ’s music equipment – and then drove down to Topanga Beach. There, the wedding was set up again in the parking lot, and the newlyweds got to enjoy the most California of backdrops – a beach on one side and brush fire on the other.

“Their friends and family will remember this for the rest of their lives. This is one that’s going down in the history books,” said Hancock.

As of Monday afternoon the fire had burned 500 acres and was 81% contained, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

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