Brides and grooms from 24 states flock to the Arkansas football field as 400 couples say “I do” as the moon blocks the face of the sun during a massive solar eclipse wedding

Nearly 400 couples said “I do” at a mass wedding on an Arkansas football field just before the moon blocked out the sun in the rare celestial phenomenon.

Brides and grooms from more than 24 states made their way to Russellville, Arkansas, and gathered at the city’s football complex to tie the knot.

The event, titled ‘Elope at the Eclipse’, started at 1.30pm and ended at 1.45pm, just minutes before the moon blotted out the sun overhead on Monday. The eclipse lasted about four minutes.

At the mass wedding, the celebrant pronounced the couples husbands, sealing their commitment to each other before they kissed passionately in the warm sunlight.

The crowd erupted in loud cheers before pulling out their eclipse glasses for the upcoming unique experience.

Carlotta Cox and Matthew Holloway told the local news channel 40/29News that they had traveled from Knoxville, Tennessee, for the eclipse wedding.

“Our original destination was Maine. The totality there is about two minutes, and then we were looking for something where the totality was longer.

“And it was here in Arkansas, and then we started looking at private events that were going on, and this is what we found,” they said.

“It just seems like the coolest wedding you could ever have,” said Cox, dressed in her beautiful wedding dress.

A groom told the channel that getting married under the total solar eclipse is a “spiritual experience.”

‘That is a unique experience. Who better to spend something like this with than the person you love most?’

“And what better way to honor that day than to get married and see a total solar eclipse?” he said, as his bride nodded in agreement.

Another bride said, “We wanted to get married under the total ensemble – just pure darkness and just stand there with my best friend and get married,” she said as her fiancé kissed her on the forehead.

According to NASA, Russellville is one of the best places in the country to view the total solar eclipse.

Shortly after the crowd took off their protective gear to witness the celestial phenomenon, they were plunged into darkness as the moon completely covered the sun.

After the eclipse passed, the couples cheered again, then cut cakes, toasted champagne and celebrated with their first dance.

The event was a ‘completely free wedding ceremony’, according to the organisers, who also offered free flowers, cakes and drinks to the brides and grooms.

The newlyweds even received a $60 marriage license reimbursement, with the first 100 couples receiving free wedding gift packages.

“It was a perfect ending to our new life. The sun, the moon and the earth have become one,” a groom told ABC after the wedding.

“It’s a great experience, I wish it could last longer.”

Total solar eclipses occur when the moon moves directly in front of the sun – not to be confused with the opposite phenomenon, a lunar eclipse.

Texas was the first to see the moon completely block the face of the sun, after which the eclipse stretched across 15 states of the country.

More than 400,000 people traveled to Dallas to be at the center of the eclipse – more than 1 million eclipse tourists in the Lone Star State on Monday.

Nikki Main of DailyMail.com in Dallas reported that most of the “cosmic tourists” she contacted had flown in from California, where the view of the eclipse was somewhat pathetic.

The eclipse caused animals at the Dallas Zoo to panic as the sky darkened, while crowds along the path of the event cheered the eclipse.

As the eclipse passed halfway across the US, areas beyond their share of totality immediately reported traffic causing chaos on the roads.

Crowds gathered on skyscrapers to watch the rare phenomenon as the Big Apple plunged into 90 percent darkness Monday afternoon.

The grand finale took place in Maine, where families took a break from spring to take it all in. The last partial solar eclipse was seen at 4:40 p.m.