Courtesy National Cathedral.

The federal government shutdown really hates love.

As the City Paper first reported, twenty-four weddings scheduled to take place on the National Mall this month are at risk of cancellation. But these love birds left in a lurch have a new option: the Episcopal Bishop of Washington is offering them use of a Washington National Cathedral garden for free.

“The shutdown’s impact on people’s lives is incalculable, and we’re all struggling to find ways to support our neighbors,” Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde said in a release. “As one modest gesture, we invite those whose outdoor wedding plans were unexpectedly changed to consider the Bishop’s Garden as an alternate site, and we offer it to them free of charge.”

While the Bishop’s Garden isn’t as grand as the Lincoln Memorial, it is indeed beautiful. Located on the south side of the Northwest D.C. cathedral, the Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.-planned garden was damaged after a crane collapse following the 2011 earthquake but it’s still open to the public.

Couples whose weddings are threatened by the shutdown are asked to call Cheryl Wilburn in the Bishop’s office at (202) 537-6543. Wilburn was out of the office this morning, but on suspects she’ll have a number of messages waiting for her upon her return.

Update: The Episcopal Diocese tells DCist that three weddings will be held tomorrow, two at the same time, and two more after that. Two couples had planned to wed at the World War I Memorial, one at the Old Stone House in Georgetown, one at the Jefferson Memorial and one on Roosevelt Island. The diocese has received quite a few inquiries and continues to get them as time goes on, according to a representative.