Kyle Paxman’s wedding fell apart six weeks before it was supposed to take place.

Awful things happen to many of us on different levels every single day. We all hope that when the time comes we can react the right way - the way we fantasize that we would - seeing the good in everything and turning a negative experience into something positive.

When Kyle heard the news that her fiancé called their wedding off, she reacted just the way we all hope we would. She turned the negative into something very positive.

"The dress had arrived, the flowers were done, the menus were chosen," said Ms. Paxman, manager of two food and beverage outlets in Carlsbad, California. "One hundred and eighty guests had tickets from all over the country to come and make a weekend of my wedding."

But rather than cancel the reception, Ms. Paxman turned it into a charity benefit. "I preferred to turn my awful situation into something positive and start the healing process."

Right after the bad news, her mother began canceling reservations and events, but the family was still on the hook for the reception costs, a block of rooms in a hotel and other expenses.

"We already spent the money, and I tried to think of ways to put the things we bought to use," Mrs. Carbee said.

Ms. Paxman and her parents invited 125 women to enjoy cocktails and a four-course dinner, in hopes that they will write checks to two charities she chose.

"She's not only empowering herself, she's reaching out and helping empower others," said Bibiana Betancourt, a fund-raising executive who found this to be the most unusual story she had encountered.

Kyle Paxman said she did not know whether her former fiancé, whom she declined to name, knew what she was doing. "It's going to be hard, of course," she said about appearing before her guests. "But the end of my story now isn't so awful."

It is inspiring that a person can get through something so traumatic and still remain strong. Kyle Paxman had every reason to gripe, complain about and denounce the one who wronged her, yet she refused to name the groom.

I learned an incredible lesson from the "Jilted Bride"– that one can make lemonade out of lemons. The charities that will benefit from the canceled wedding will be eternally grateful that Kyle Paxman decided to get up, brush herself off and move on – converting her bad experience into good.