LAFAYETTE, La. (WGNO) – It’s the kind of thing that brides-to-be fear most: Not just rain on your wedding day, but devastating floods.
That’s exactly what happened to Courtney Hollier and Jake Guillory, the couple whose wedding day almost didn’t happen in Lafayette because of widespread flooding.
Their wedding photographer, Victoria at VCB Weddings of New Orleans, was excited to travel to Lafayette, but nervous about the weather when she got there.
The morning of the wedding day, bride Courtney called Victoria and informed her that the wedding venue, Vermilionville, was closed because of flooding.
Not only were they without a venue, they also didn’t have a caterer, hair and makeup artists or a band, and many guests on the list wouldn’t be able to attend because of high water.
“I just want to marry my best friend today,” she told Victoria.
What’s a bride-to-be in Cajun country to do?
That’s easy. Throw on a pot of jambalaya, and break out the folding chairs.
“I arrived to the men sitting at decorated tables in the garage drinking beer and laughing together,” Victoria says in her blog. “Jambalaya was ready for the reception, the house decorated from top to bottom with all of the venue decorations. Courtney was in the master bedroom having one of her bridesmaids help her with makeup and hair.”
The most important thing: Courtney was still smiling.
And according to her wedding photographer, “that smile didn’t leave her face the entire day.”