N.J. couple's wedding turns to a catastrophe after venue's floor caves in

A wedding reception held at the Daymark in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, had to be evacuated after the second floor caved in.

A wedding reception held at the Daymark in Barnegat Light, New Jersey, had to be evacuated after the second floor caved in. (Barnegat Light Volunteer Fire Department via WABC)


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BARNEGAT LIGHT, N.J. — A couple's big wedding on the Jersey Shore turned into a giant catastrophe after the second floor of a building where 200 people had gathered began to cave in.

Cassidy and Brian Gagliardotto had planned for years to make Sept. 17 a night to remember, beginning with a big proposal.

"Totally shocked and wasn't expecting it," Cassidy Gagliardotto.

"All of her family were on the dunes, yeah, I got down on one knee and she said yes ... and here we are, it's awesome," Brian Gagliardotto said.

The beautiful wedding was shared with family and friends, and then it was time to party.

The reception was held at Daymark in Barnegat Light.

"Our DJ just kicked it off and we were like three songs in," Brian Gagliardotto said.

But the celebration turned into an evacuation when the second floor of the building started shaking.

"I felt it like drop, and I instantly got off the dance floor," Cassidy Gagliardotto.

"Luckily we were able to get all our first dances in, all our speeches in," Brian Gagliardotto said.

They say the floor did not collapse but caved in.

The fire department also thanked the DJ, who did an excellent job of announcing to all the wedding guests to safely exit the building.

Luckily, there were no injuries.

Daymark will be closed until the building is structurally sound.

"We knew where my parents were staying and we moved to that location and the party just continued on," Brian Gagliardotto said.

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