“He was busy doing office work the entire time,” Howard smiled. “When his parents got in the next morning, we realized that we had to find someplace to get him a tuxedo.”

Taking to the streets of Tyler once again, Howard, her fiancé and his parents came upon The Tux Shop.

“And we were able to get him in there and out with a tuxedo in fifteen minutes and it fit...perfectly,” she went on. “After that, we parted ways and said, see you at the altar at six.”

With three hours until the wedding, Howard managed to pick up her freshly steamed dress from Lucky’s Discount Cleaners, picked up a two cakes from a Brookshire’s (ordered by Aunt Nancy in Colorado), and found a place to get her and her mother’s hair done.

“Wt’s Family Hair Cutters, where a woman left by herself cleared the entire afternoon schedule to get ours done,” smiled Howard.

The pew bows were put up, the attendees quickly showered and dressed, all except groomsmen for Howard’s fiancé.

“Brian realized none of his groomsmen would make it in, but he had invited his First Superior Officer, Brent Mellen.”

So when Mellen walked in, clad in his best flannel shirt and jeans., Howard’s mother took a boutonniere and pinned it on and told him he was now the Best Man.

“He was a little apprehensive about his attire, so he went and squeezed into an extra tuxedo that we happened to have and grinned and beared it.”

In the midst of getting ready, KLTV-Channel 7 from Tyler showed up at the ceremony with camera in hand ready to record the 24-hour wedding for the evening news and also settling the issue of videographer.

“Though it was chaos in planning, the wedding turned out beautifully,” Howard recalled. “My mother, who happens to be a professional photographer, was able to get all the pictures we had wanted while also being the Mother-of-the-Bride. The Potpourri House did a fantastic job getting a variety of the flowers we wanted. They even replaced the giant, icing carrot that was on top of Brian’s grooms cake with chocolate truffles.”

Following the wedding, absent Aunt Nancy had also planned an evening for the newlyweds at the Rose Vine Inn Bed & Breakfast nearby, which was such a treat for the two they decided to stay an extra night.

“But then that was it,” Howard went on. “Brian was called back to duty the next day.”

In one day, Howard and family and friends managed to accomplish what usually takes about a year to put together. Hurricane Ike did cause a great deal of frustration for Southeast Texas, but this was a wedding that was going to happen, come wind or high water.

“Our wedding on September 16, 2008 will be a cherished memory for the entirety of our lives.”