Most brides worry about rain, bad hair or a late guest on their wedding day. Katie Stokes had a much creepier problem.
The 25-year-old bride was left with 92 ant bites after unknowingly standing in a swarm of ants on her wedding day in South Georgia.
Katie had just married her husband, Chase Stokes, when the shocking moment happened. The couple was outside, waiting to make their grand entrance into the reception, when she suddenly felt sharp bites on her feet.
At first, bugs were not exactly a surprise. Katie said she and Chase knew an outdoor wedding in South Georgia meant dealing with insects. But they were more worried about gnats than ants.
“We were stocked up on bug spray, and I was doused in no-gnat spray,” Katie told PEOPLE. “Ants didn’t even cross my mind until it was happening.”
Earlier that afternoon, it had rained for about an hour, which Katie believes may have brought the ants out of the ground. She said there had been no sign of them at all that day until she looked down and realized they were all over her dress.
Then came the panic.
Katie said she was literally “standing in them” and could feel them biting her feet. When she lifted her dress, she realized hundreds of ants had crawled into every layer of the gown.
“It was just Chase and me standing outside of the car my coordinator was driving us around in, waiting for our entrance into the reception,” Katie recalled. “As soon as I felt the bites, I lifted my dress to see my feet and saw that hundreds had gotten into every layer of my dress.”
Katie said she froze, unsure how they would ever get all the ants out.
Chase quickly told her to sit in the back seat of the car while he helped remove her shoes. He began brushing ants off her legs, and the wedding coordinator rushed over to help after realizing what was happening.
“They both were knocking the ants out of my dress while I was lying down, rolling in the back of the car,” Katie said.
But the chaos did not stop there. Chase and the wedding coordinator also ended up covered in ants while trying to help her, turning the moments before the couple’s reception entrance into a full-blown scramble.
The grand entrance was delayed until Katie could get back on her feet. Afterward, the coordinator’s husband sprayed the area, and the coordinator even brought Katie cortisone cream from home during the couple’s private dinner.
Despite the bizarre and painful ordeal, Katie said the wedding was still the best day of their lives.
“I knew there were things that would be out of my control, like the rain and, evidently, the ants, but I chose to focus on how loved and happy we both felt throughout the whole thing,” she said. “So many family members and friends surrounded us. I would not have changed one thing about the day.”
Katie and Chase, both 25, have been together for nine years, but their story began long before that. They have known each other nearly their entire lives after attending the same preschool. They started dating in high school and made it through years of long-distance while Katie attended dental school at the Dental College of Georgia at Augusta University.
“We knew early on that we were meant to be together, and all of those years of long-distance were so worth it in the end,” Katie said. “Getting to be Chase’s wife is one of the greatest gifts.”
The ant bites did not bother Katie as much as people might expect. Thanks to ibuprofen and cortisone cream, she said she avoided major itching, and the bites disappeared after about a week.
It was not until the honeymoon that Katie realized just how many bites she had.
While sitting on a float in the ocean, she counted them. The final number was 92.
Shocked by the total, she made a TikTok about the wedding day disaster. The video went viral, with many people jumping into the comments to share their own outdoor wedding horror stories.
Katie said the reaction made her realize just how many things can go wrong on a big day, even after years of careful planning.
Still, she has no regrets.
“Our day was perfect,” she said. “And I would take the ant bites all over again if it meant getting to marry Chase.”
Must have been something really sweet in there.I think I\’d have to go also