MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – A Myrtle Beach couple celebrated their wedding as Hurricane Florence crashed in along the Carolina coast.
More than 1.7 million people in North and South Carolina and Virginia were warned to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Florence, but one couple chose the storm’s entrance as a day of celebration.
As the WBTW News team began to prep for continuous hurricane coverage, a woman called the newsroom to tell the team of a “resilient couple,” who was not letting the storm interfere with their wedding day.
Doris and Jim met five years ago, and despite the wind and slightly gray skies, chose Sept. 13 as the day to share their nuptials.
“We met at Birch Broom in the Fits, a hair salon in Myrtle Beach,” says Doris just before the ceremony. The salon is located just a block away from the ceremony location, in Myrtle Beach’s Market Common.
Doris says the couple chose Thursday to get married because the timing just seemed to work out perfectly.
“Well, we both work, and the timing was perfect. We already had our marriage license and we were going to do it, and with the hurricane coming we just said, ‘This is a good time. It’s a ghost town. Nobody’s around. Let’s just go get married,’” laughs Doris.
While they’re ready to celebrate their lives together, the couple says they’re also prepared for Hurricane Florence.
“We live in Berkshire Forest. We do have…a generator and we’re boarded up,” says Doris. The couple says after the ceremony, they plan to spend the next few days indoors, safe from the storm.
The marriage officiant was all smiles as she married the couple.
“I was tickled to death,” the officiant said. “Something I can put down on my memoirs to my grandchildren.”
Holding small, coral flowers and one another’s hands, the couple exchanged vowels just before noon on Thursday.
Best wish, Doris and Jim!