Storm Leaves Bride & Groom Fran-tic!
Hurricane Fran caused wedding day chaos!
Barbara Lynn & Doug Rozenboom - High Point, North Carolina
Little did my soon-to-be husband Doug and I know, as we prepared for our wedding, that a category three storm was headed inland toward Raleigh. The night before our rehearsal, Hurricane Fran hit, and hit hard, cutting power, downing trees, and flooding parts of the city. I was in Durham that night, when I heard the winds toppling trees over as the horizontal rain hit the house at about 3 a.m. I was scared to death. Doug called the next morning and asked, "Are we still getting married?"
The hotel manager in Raleigh didn't want anyone to check in because they had no power and no maid service, but we wouldn't take no for an answer. When I walked into my dark, hot "bridal suite," all I saw was a puddle of water and a cheap beer can on the dresser from a previous guest. All I could do was cry as I made up my own bed.
The bachelor golf outing and bridesmaids' luncheon we'd planned were both cancelled. Instead, the groomsmen had to clear away an old oak tree that had fallen across the path to our chapel. The room we'd reserved for our rehearsal dinner was flooded, so we had to have to move it to my college's cafeteria. At least they had power. It was a quiet dinner.
The morning of the wedding, we still had no hot water or electricity, so I took a very cold, dark shower and I had to towel my hair dry. The baker had to make my wedding cake by candlelight in the dark, resulting in a creation that I had never seen before. And to top it all off, my mother fainted from heat exhaustion and told us go on without her because she needed to lie down.
The wedding was nice, but many people couldn't get there. The reception was confusing because our reception coordinator couldn't attend; she'd fallen in her yard picking up branches and suffered a concussion. I never did get to dance with my father or my new husband, but we did have power. |
