Taipei, April 21 (CNA) Love has proved more powerful than a volcanic eruption as a central European couple have gotten married in Taiwan after being unable to return to Europe for their wedding that had been planned for April 24.

The 32-year-old Juraj Hegyi married Zuzana Marcekova, whom he has been in love with for 13 years, Tuesday at the Orchard Park Hotel in northern Taiwan's Taoyuan County.

The hotel is not far from Taiwan's main international gateway, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where many passengers have been stranded after their flights to Europe were canceled because of a volcanic eruption in Iceland.

None of the couple's family members were present at wedding, but many local residents, hotel staffers and other European travelers like Hegyi and Marcekova stranded in Taiwan were on hand to help the couple celebrate their marriage.

Hegyi, a physician from Slovakia, and Marcekova, 31, a radiology technician from the Czech Republic, were taking a trip through Asia and had planned to return home for their wedding in Slovakia on April 24.

They had visited Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong before flying to Taiwan for a transit stop before heading on to Europe, but by that time, the ash drift spread by the volcano had already shut down air travel over the continent.

Marcekova said they had to cancel the wedding they had planned for more than a year after learning their flight home would be postponed indefinitely. That realization sent Marcekova into tears, according to hotel staff.

After learning of the couple's story, hotel founder and chairman Li San-lian decided to organize a wedding ceremony for them within a day.

Dozens of hotel staffers and workers were summoned to assist the couple in purchasing wedding rings, arranging a ceremony and selecting a wedding gown.

With all of the couple's new Taiwanese friends and her love for her husband, the "volcanic eruption was nothing, " said the bride after the ceremony.

The wedding was based on a traditional Christian ceremony -- singing Christian songs, reading bible passages, and exchanging rings -- and was witnessed by Christian minister Kao Tien-yuan from Chung Yuan Christian University.

Family members of the couple watched the ceremony via video conference. Expressing his gratitude, Hegyi said the passion of the Taiwanese people and the hotel's assistance saved them from feeling regret for the rest of their lives.

"Life is full of surprises. Taiwan will be a memory that we will never forget, " he said.

(By Chiu Chun-chin and Elizabeth Hsu)



