A Hurricane Sandy Wedding

I guess I haven't mentioned it yet on my blog... our wedding was a Hurricane Sandy event. Obviously, no one could have predicted that this devastation would have struck NJ and put a wallop on our wedding plans. And in the wake of such a disaster, it would have been rather selfish of me to fret and fuss over the chaos and uncertainty that marked the days leading up to our marriage. Yes – we had made a plan to seal our future together on November 10, 2012. But clearly, God or nature or whomever, had other ideas for our little spot on the map at that particular time.

So, I didn't fuss. I didn't stress over flower deliveries that may never arrive (because I didn't order flowers, remember!?). I didn't worry that the priest may not be able to make the hour and a half drive, or that Somerville was pretty much under water and no one was answering the phone at the Elks Hall on Thursday, and we were going to have our wedding there on Saturday.

I went with the flow as emails and phone calls came in changing our wedding guests' replies from "Yes" to "No" and back again as family and friends in the tristate area slowly pieced their lives back together, surviving for weeks without electricity, and for some, in the wake of the destruction of their homes. I patiently moved ahead with the schedule inside my head even as our parents were sitting at home with fireplaces lit and battery-powered lanterns to illuminate their evenings in other parts of NJ.

I didn't get annoyed when a wedding guest had told family members from Long Island that the wedding was off based on the fact that she, too, had called the Elks Club and no one was answering. Or that many old folks on my husband's side were experiencing grave illness and simply weren't sure that they could make the trip. Until we heard an official "no" from the hall, the priest, or anybody else, it was assumed that everyone would slowly crawl out from under this mess, recover, survive, and be there to bless us with their presence on our wedding day.

Hurricane Sandy dampened our wedding plans, but if anything, she made the final coming-together all the more meaningful. Words can't express the glow of happiness, the feeling of so many smiles beaming down on our little family all at once. The touching words of our priest, the first dance as husband and wife... and the many meaningful ways our friends and family had contributed to our special day.

As I mention all over this blog, I went into my wedding plans with a no-nonsense attitude, and my husband was in full support of this endeavor. I didn't fuss over flowers or favors; we didn't make plans for a honeymoon; our wedding attire didn't cost us much. In short, we let go of most of the small details that other NJ brides typically get caught up in.

Our gift for having a humble wedding, and not asking for much other than the company of our loved ones, was that we were able to pull it off despite the cards stacked against us. But the real gift, the one that we'll always remember and cherish, was the overwhelming feeling of love and support from everyone who was there with us, as well as from those who for various reasons were unable to join our celebration that day.

While I would never wish another Hurricane Sandy-type disaster on anyone, the fact that it happened during our time to get married was, for us, life-changing. And if I had to do my wedding all over again, I wouldn't do a thing differently.

I like to think that Sandy handed us an important life lesson: love always perseveres through the storm.