Sno Balls®, Anyone?
A flood dampened this special day – but snack cakes and a borrowed dress came to the rescue!
Christine & Otis Hoffmann - New Braunfels, Texas
Our wedding day was October 17, 1998. My husband, Otis, and I had spent over a year planning our dream day. Little did we know that it would also be the day of the greatest flood in San Antonio’s history. Once the flooding started, all of our plans changed. The caterer, band, and wedding cake could not make it through the floodwaters. One of my bridesmaids had to wade across a swollen creek to get to the wedding. My sister-in-law, who also happened to have my wedding dress, couldn’t make it because the roads were washed away.
My family and I arrived at our church in St. Hedwig an hour late, only after the police allowed us to go the wrong way down a one-way street to avoid traffic, and we survived having lightning strike the gas pumps we were using. Once at the church, we found out that the electricity was out. The good news was that my aunt had brought my cousin’s wedding dress and it fit perfectly.The bad news came when I learned our reception hall in Schertz was being turned into a shelter for flood victims.
Our wedding was scheduled for 3 p.m., and my husband and his family finally arrived at the church from New Braunfels at 5:20 p.m., after navigating around flooded roads for hours. We were finally married at 5:30 p.m., in front of the 80 guests who were able to attend. Because the electricity was out, there was no music, so the guests sang me up the aisle to "Amazing Grace." There wasn’t a dry eye in the candle-lit church.
After the ceremony, we were allowed to use the church social hall. Family members went to the local gas station to gather drinks and food, and even brought back a cinnamon roll and packaged cupcakes to use as our wedding cake! Someone else brought a CD player, so we still had our first dance. Though we would never want to relive that day, it was the day we learned what truly matters - family and friends. |
