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NEW ORLEANS (AP) – While New Orleans was hanging under Tropical Storm Barry Friday, press photographers from across the city could be found together in a church, witnessing the wedding of one of the their.
Photographers Gerald Herbert and Lucy Sikes of the Associated Press were not supposed to get married on Friday night. The invitations sent out months ago were aimed at a wedding Saturday night at the Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church, followed by a reception at the Art Deco-style restaurant at Lakefront Airport, in the city.
This place was a tribute to the way Herbert had learned to fly so that he could travel to Shreveport, in northern Louisiana, to visit his lawyer, his wife, who is now a woman. But the airport was also outside the city's flood walls.
As Barry approached the coast of Louisiana, the restaurant called to say that it would be closed on Saturday. Herbert added that the storm also made things difficult for wedding vendors, and that Sikes and he feared that guests would not be able to move on Saturday.
After a bit of introspection, Herbert said, they decided to get married on Friday night.
"We realized we had a marriage license, two rings … and we did not really want to wait any longer," he said.
So Sikes, dressed in an elegant white dress with silver beads on her back, found herself in the aisle on Friday night in the direction of Herbert, who wore a blue suit and a big smile.
Reverend Herbert Kiff Jr., who has known the groom for years, officiated. Observing the crowd of family members and friends who had quickly gathered to celebrate the event, he said, "This proves how much you love Gerald and Lucy."
New Orleans rhythm and blues musician, deacon John Moore, was scheduled to perform at the Saturday ceremony. He went to the Friday ceremony, but the church musicians could not. He ended up bringing his brother to play the guitar and another musician to play the piano.
Sikes worried that his dress would get wet or that his guests would not be in the rain anymore. Neither one nor the other happened, and she was happy that everything came together.
"My friends are rock!" She says. "They came out at the last minute."
Church wedding coordinator Pam Eshleman said that when the city was flooded on Wednesday, she suspected the bad weather of compromising Saturday's plans. Sikes texted her on Friday morning to ask if she could arrange the wedding at the church that night. In the end, she said, it had to "happen today."
"I said," For some reason, God did not want everyone to marry tomorrow, "she said." He wanted you all to be here today, and all of it was very well spent. "
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For Barry's latest news, visit https://apnews.com/Hurricanes.
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