Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 16, 1993 TAG: 9303160227
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
FUNERALS HAD TO WAIT, BUT THE WEDDINGS WENT ON
A blizzard can shut down airports, close interstates and grind everyday life to a standstill. It also halts funerals. But there's one thing a blizzard cannot stop: the holy vows of matrimony.One couple said, "We do," a night early.
Another a day late.
A third pair moved their wedding to Mom and Dad's house.
And Timothy and Kathryn Clements should have been in Maui by now. They're not.
Nobody, however, called the whole thing off.
"My friend and I are saying we're going to write a book on how you can change your wedding day in just hours," said Donna Osborne, whose daughter, Stefanie Dawn Osborne, changed her wedding from Saturday to Friday night because of the weekend's snowstorm.
She said her daughter decided to change the ceremony to Friday after calling television weatherman Robin Reed, who recommended switching if possible. The wedding had been planned for 2 p.m. Saturday at Shenandoah Baptist Church in Roanoke.
The bride and the groom, Jay Flack, started making telephone calls: to the five bridesmaids and five ushers; grandparents in Asheville, N.C.; and about 200 guests. The cafeteria at Roanoke Valley Christian School was readied for a reception.
Most of the wedding party arrived by 5 p.m. Friday. One usher never made it. They walked through a brief rehearsal, then sat down for a rehearsal dinner, which had been scheduled for Friday night anyhow.
The best man showed up around 7:30. The grandparents rolled in about 8. The ceremony started shortly thereafter, followed by a reception attended by about 120 people.
Donna Osborne, the bride's mother, said everyone went away happy.
"It looked like we had planned it for Friday night. Nobody could tell."
Catherine Brown said she didn't start worrying until Saturday. Then panic hit.
She had food enough for 175 people stored at her Roanoke home, and no way to transport it to the Vinton Senior Center for her son's wedding reception. She had called about renting a four-wheel-drive vehicle, but found nothing. Meanwhile, the snow outside was piling up.
Finally, the bride, Deborah Burleson, and groom, Stephen Brown, decided to postpone the event until Sunday. But the church, Barnhardt Baptist Church, couldn't be reached by car and the senior center wasn't available.
So, the original wedding plans were scrapped.
Burleson and Brown instead used the Vinton War Memorial for both their ceremony and reception. A few four-wheel-drive trucks, loaned by family friends, got the food there. Many of the guests, including the minister, were ferried by four-wheel-drive as well. Only about half the expected guests attended.
The honeymoon plans also were scrapped. The newlyweds had hoped to spend Saturday night at the Doe Run Lodge near Hillsville. Instead, they stayed Sunday at the Roanoke Airport Marriott.
"I tell you, it's something they won't ever forget," Catherine Brown said.
Kim Nichols and Paul Hubbard were supposed to get married Saturday at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on Colonial Avenue in Roanoke. They got married as scheduled.
But at a house on Walnut Avenue in Old Southwest instead.
"They just improvised," said Betty Hubbard, the mother of the groom.
The house is the home of Ted and Peggy Nichols, the bride's parents. They also hosted a simple reception afterwards, which was supposed to have been held at the Holiday Inn on Franklin Road.
Hubbard said the bride's brother scooped the walk three times Saturday prior to the 2 p.m. wedding. The groom entered in snow boots and a tuxedo. (He changed to dress shoes before the ceremony.)
Several guests arrived with the wedding in process. One couple walked in from Vinton. They made it on time. But some family members who had come in from Florida got stranded at their hotel and missed the event.
All in all, about 40 people packed into the Nichols' living room, foyer and kitchen for the ceremony. "It was just beautiful," Betty Hubbard reported. "You would have thought they planned it there."
The honeymooners postponed a trip to Myrtle Beach.
In Blacksburg, Timothy and Kathryn Clements also got married on time. Maybe at the worst time: straight up 6 p.m. Saturday after the heavy snow had fallen and the wind had picked up.
"Talk about knowing the right weekend to pick. We didn't just pick a storm," said Kathy Zweifel, the mother of the bride. "We picked the storm of the century. It was tense there for awhile."
At least it will make a nice contrast to Maui, where the happy couple are supposed to honeymoon - whenever they get there. They were scheduled to fly out of Charlotte early Sunday, but didn't even attempt the drive until Monday. The next flight out for Hawaii leaves this morning.
Unlike these weddings, the blizzard did interrupt most funeral services on Saturday. Typical was Oakey's Roanoke Chapel, which had five funerals scheduled for the day and conducted only one.
Sammy Oakey III, assistant manager at Oakey's, said he left the decisions to postpone the funerals up to each family. However, he said burials could not be done because of snow blocking gravesites - a problem that further slowed funerals set for Monday.
As a result, from services postponed from Saturday and Monday, Oakey's has 11 funerals scheduled for today - only two short of the most services the funeral home has had in one day.
"It has created a snowball effect, no pun intended," Oakey said.