My husband and I met in California. Since I am originally from Maryland, I began planning my wedding a year in advance. I found the perfect place in Mitchellville, MD, confirmed the date, and we were all set. As I was leaving CA to come to MD, my sister-in-law wished me luck and said not to worry about the storm. I did not know Hurricane Isabel was brewing off the coast. But, this was Sunday and my wedding was not until Thursday. Plus, hurricanes never hit Maryland so I knew I would be just fine. We kept hearing reports about the hurricane but I continued as nothing was going to happen.  I had a gorgeous rehearsal outside on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003and we were all set for our wedding the next day. What luck that I picked the same time and date for my wedding as Mother Nature picked for Hurricane Isabel to hit Maryland: Thursday, September 18, 2003, at 4pm! When I woke up on Thursday morning, the sky was cloudy but again I just thought it would pass and everything would work out. At the hair salon at 11 am, I received a call from my wedding coordinator that all Montgomery County establishments were shutting down and I had two options: either move the wedding from 4pm to 2pm or reschedule for the weekend. Since I had family coming from all over the country, I decided to move it to 2pm. My bridesmaids got on the phone and called all 200 guests, we leave a voicemail on my home phone of the change, called the caterer, DJ, flower person, limo driver, and horse and carriage company and begged everyone to come early. Despite the pouring rains, gail force winds, and leaky ceiling, we had a blast. Amazingly, 130 out of the 200 people still showed up. We got to dance for 5 songs and then we had to leave. I invited everyone back to my house (80 people came). Once I got there, we had not power so we lit candles. Luckily someone had a charged iPod with speakers so we danced in the dark and had cocktails (we had not planned for this but for some reason, my mother stocked up on liquor, just in case). I was supposed to stay a the Hay Adams for my wedding night but the streets were too dangerous to travel. So, my husband and I ended up sleeping in the basement (I had never slept down there before so I tried to picture it as a honeymoon suite. Also, since the power was out, it was the coolest place int he house). I had an another reception scheduled for Friday at my uncles house. He did not have power either so we changed the time once again (moved it up 1 hour to 5pm to get as much sunlight as possible), he cooked food for 100 people on gas burners in his garage. Then, it was time to party so we went outside, pulled his SUV into the garage, and played music through his car speakers. We danced right in the garage and driveway. When the car battery died, we just backed it out and pulled another car it so we could start dancing again. It was a weekend that I will never forget and somehow, Hurricane Isabel made it that much more memorable. It may not have been what I planned, but it turned out better than I could of imagined.  Oh, and we got the horse and carriage ride on Sunday, in my neighborhood. People came out and applauded and one person said, "I have seen lots in this neighborhood, but this takes the cake!"