On Saturday, the morning of what was going to be the best day of his life (his wedding day), Austin Bracker received an unwanted phone call.
The day before, a tornado had ripped through Waterloo, Nebraska, just west of Omaha, where she was scheduled to hold her wedding reception on Saturday afternoon.
An outbreak of severe thunderstorms across the central United States over the weekend brought heavy rain, large hail and devastating tornadoes. The tornadoes left four people dead in Oklahoma and leveled homes in Iowa and Nebraska.
In the town of Waterloo, the storm damaged “numerous homes,” although no injuries were reported, according to a news release from the Douglas County Emergency Management Agency. It also knocked out power at Austin and Jessica Bracker’s wedding reception venue, A View West Shores.
But despite once-in-a-lifetime circumstances, changing or canceling the celebration was never an option for the Brackers.
“The thought of canceling the reception never crossed our minds,” Jessica Bracker told CNN. “Austin and I are resilient in everything we do in life and this is something we dealt with.”
The newlyweds are nurses who met at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, and now live outside the city, the bride’s family told CNN. Jessica is originally from Omaha, Nebraska and Austin is from Springfield, Missouri.
Their wedding ceremony was at a church that was not affected by the storm, the couple said. But the reception venue had to move the festivities from inside to a covered walkway outside.
The Brackers said their families pitched in to change the location.
Brandi Goldapp, the venue’s owner, said when they realized they didn’t have power for Bracker’s reception, they contacted other local providers to get additional generators. They also used Freedom Stick lights and LED lights to keep the place illuminated.
“We will do anything for our customers,” he said. Goldapp described the celebration as “the most incredible wedding we could have had in this situation.”
“We were happy to be together and just took it as it is,” Austin Bracker told CNN. “We just kept going.”
And the more than 300 guests also “rolled with the punches” despite the difficult circumstances, Jessica Bracker said.
Despite the devastation caused by a tornado over the weekend, guests decided to make the most of the bad situation at Jessica and Austin Bracker’s wedding. (Maya Blackstone/CNN via CNN Newsource)
“They’re here to celebrate us, which we feel very lucky about,” he said, adding, “Our prayers are with those who were affected by the storms that passed through the area Friday night.”
“We put 10 months of planning and coordination, tears of happiness and many tears of stress into the wedding of our dreams and all of that was taken away from us,” Jessica Bracker said. “We are very fortunate and blessed to have the family and friends we have who made the day as amazing as possible given the situation.”
Janet Sueper, the bride’s great-aunt, described the night as “a wedding like I’ve never seen before” and praised the collaboration needed to save the celebration.
“Everyone was involved contributing and trying hard to make it special and they did it very quickly,” Sueper told CNN.
Nash Thompson, a friend of the couple, also described it as “a special night.”
“Despite everything that happened, everyone showed up and made it what it is,” he told CNN. “A lot of people love these guys. That’s what it’s all about.”