Love shines: Yorke Peninsula couple Lauren and James Venning marry undaunted by giant storm
LAUREN and James Venning were among countless couples whose wedding plans were thrown into chaos last weekend — but in the end love trumped Mother Nature.
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LAUREN and James Venning were among countless couples whose wedding plans were thrown into chaos last weekend — but in the end love trumped Mother Nature.
The newlyweds, who married last Sunday on Mr Venning’s family’s farming land in Bute, on the Yorke Peninsula, said they “faced every challenge possible” thanks to the storm that caused a statewide blackout and widespread flooding.
Mrs Venning, 25, said guests who travelled from Adelaide were delayed hours due to road closures, their band got bogged and they had no phone reception.
“Even when the power came back on, we had absolutely no internet and no phone reception until about Monday,” she said.
“All the guests coming from Adelaide needed to come down Port Wakefield Highway and that was shut, so that added an extra hour or two onto their journeys.
“Because of all the wind and the rain, there was just rubbish everywhere that we had to clean up at the last minute, and tree branches and things falling down.
“Our band got bogged on the way. They were two hours late because they got stuck … they were covered in mud — their shoes, their jeans.”
Despite the difficulties, Mrs Venning — who wore a Caleche gown — said the day came together perfectly, with the rain holding off just long enough for their “I dos”.
“We had 45 minutes of no rain for the ceremony and then it started pouring just as people were leaving the ceremony site,” she said.
“Considering what the weather was like and how uncertain it was, it turned out really well.”
The Vennings were just one of several couples challenged by the wild weather.
Danielle Cresp, co-owner of Sash Events, said one of their weddings in the Barossa Valley had to resort to a back-up plan.
“I think plan A was under water and it was a marquee wedding as well,” she said.
Wedding photographer Lisa De-Zen, of Lisa Hertling Photography, said she had a wedding last weekend that was also impacted by the storm.
“We couldn’t go to where she (the bride) wanted to go to take photographs afterwards … (and) some of the guests were affected because they went the wrong way through road closures and a few guests got bogged.”