Saturday, July 16 is the day Cristina Morales and Jordan Barbakow plan to marry at a Beverly Hills estate.
"The date is the anniversary date of when I proposed to Cristina," Barbakow said.
But it's also the date the 405 Freeway - the busiest freeway in the country - will be shut down for 53 hours straight, just about paralyzing commuters. It's being called "Carmageddon."
See a live cam shot of the Mulholland Bridge construction site.
The couple considered changing the date for their big day, but it was too far in the planning stages to make it happen.
"The vendors, the invitations printed, out of town guests, out of country guests who already purchased their, tickets to the venue itself and a number of reasons for which we could not change," the groom said.
The bride-to-be's family will be coming from the San Fernando Valley - not an easy trek when the 405 is the route of choice. They'll have to leave hours in advance to deal with predicted heavy traffic on the alternate routes leading to the West Side.
The freeway closure will happen from the evening of July 15 to the morning of July 18.
The northbound 405 is scheduled to be closed for construction for 10 miles between the 10 and 101 freeways. The southbound 405 will be shut down for four miles between the 101 and Getty Center Drive exit.
The couple is already spending a small fortune on their wedding. Now they're planning on putting up some guests in hotels near the venue to ensure they make it.
They're anticipating that others won't show because of traffic. An empty seat is also money out of pocket for the bride and groom.
"At the end of the day, we're going to be completely torn over the guests that didn't make it because of the 405 closure," Morales.
Beat Carmageddon with ABC7
The 405 shuts down the weekend of July 16-17, and ABC7 Eyewitness News is your home for the latest traffic news and information. Follow @abc7 and @BeatCarmageddon on Twitter, and use the hash tag #abc7traffic.
ABC7 has also partnered with Waze to help navigate the traffic. Download the Waze app, which provides free turn-by-turn GPS navigation based on the live conditions of the road. Join the community of drivers in Southern California today and beat Carmageddon.
