January 3, 2012

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Kay English Photography.

Jamie Marcone and Brian Martinez didn’t think much about bad weather when they planned an August beach wedding in Atlantic City. “We didn’t want people to come to the sticks of Connecticut during a weekend in the summer when people want to be at the beach,” said Jamie, who lives in Norwalk, Connecticut, but grew up in Absecon. “People would get to enjoy the beach bars, the beach and casinos. It was an excuse to make a weekend out of it as well.”

An Unexpected Guest: Irene

But the weekend didn’t go exactly as planned. Their August 26, 2011, Friday night wedding ran smack into a mandatory evacuation for Atlantic County, courtesy of Hurricane Irene.

The couple started to worry when torrential rains hit Thursday night, but real concern didn’t set in until guests weren’t making their flights. Never mind that it was still a beautiful, sunny day, or that the venue reassured them that their wedding would go on—at first. “They called to cancel at noon. Wedding at five,” she says.

Jamie admits that she was thrown into a panic, and was unsure what to do. Her hair and makeup were already done. “I was just thinking all these people have traveled. The flowers are ready, photographer and videographer were on-site, everyone was there. I didn’t want anything to stop us from getting married,” she says.

So, with the help of the couple’s family and friends and a relocation to her mother’s friend’s house in Northfield, they still had a beautiful, last-minute wedding that Friday night.

Gerad’s Florist and Decorators re-delivered the flowers to the new site, and brought along a canopy, which they decorated with more flowers, along with the backyard and the house. An immediate call to Petrosh’s Big Top Rentals in Egg Harbor Township got them chairs, tables and linens, silverware and plates. Boyfriends of the bridesmaids were enlisted to find a local liquor store to create a makeshift bar. Gourmet in Galloway had just had a party cancelled on them, and were about to throw out the food they’d already cooked. “We told them we’d take what they had, just send it over,” Jamie says.

But before heading to Northfield, the couple had their photos taken on the beach and boardwalk—photos that look like they were taken on any other gorgeous summer day.

“I was dealing with the disappointment that it wasn’t going as planned, but this overwhelming sense of calm came over me when I finally saw Brian,” Jamie says. “It’s really about us. It’s not about the party. It’s not about the glitz and glam. It’s about two people who are in love and want to spend their life together, and the family and friends that they’ve surrounded themselves with.”

Resources:

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kay English Photography, Central NJ; kayenglishphotography.com

FLOWERS: Gerad’s Florist & Decorators Pleasantville, 609-646-4150; geradsinc.com

EVENT RENTALS: Petrosh’s Big Top Tent Rentals, Egg Harbor Township,

609-804-9805; petrosh-bigtop.com

CATERING: Gourmet Italian Cuisine, Galloway, 609-652-1398;

gourmetitaliancuisine.com

BRIDE’S GOWN: Marisa from The Bridal Garden, Marlton,

856-988-8188; bridal-garden.com

SHOES: Enzo Angiolini from Macys, Cherry Hill; macys.com

HAIRPIECE: Portobello; etsy.com/shop/portobello

HAIR: Christine Strigh, Esthetica Salon, Northfield, 609-646-1816