Rain on your wedding day is considered good luck.
But what Christophe Vaissade and Samantha Tyson faced this past weekend was a little bit more than precipitation.
Set to be married at Vaissade's parents vineyard in south Langley on Saturday afternoon, the couple endured one challenge after another in their quest to tie the knot.
"I had anticipated the rain, I was OK with that," Vaissade said.
"But the wind? It was crazy. Trees were down, road were closed, half a million people were without power."
"The one day you pick of the year, and this happens?"
The day began with pouring rain and after the gale force winds started a short time later, the best man Brad Dunmore suggested they pick up a generator from his house.
On the way back, a massive branch fell between the two cars carrying Vaissade and his groomsmen.
The men scrambled to get ready, in case the power went out. In the meantime, they got a text from the Tyson and her bridesmaids that the power was out at their hotel.
That was followed by news from his dad that the 20'x40' tent was gone, the four- to six-inch poles and the ropes that were securing it to the ground had snapped in half.
Another, even bigger, tent was also close to flying away as Vaissade's family tried to hold it down.
The tent company, Save on Tents and Party Rentals, was quickly on scene, to secure it.
Vaissade admitted he thought about postponing the wedding, but Tyson's grandmother shot down that idea.
With the tent situation handled as best they could, the next challenge was a call from Dutchman's Catering, informing him that they had lost power as they prepared that evening's dinner at their Port Kells facility.
The catering company was without their convection steamer and convection ovens, but they were able to use their natural gas stoves, preparing dinner under the emergency lights of the facility.
The bride arrived and was given a bit of a rundown on what was happening.
"She was in the house getting reports from people. She wanted to come out and do something, but she couldn't," Vaissade explained.
"She felt helpless. We aren't superstitious, but we are traditional and we didn't want to see each other before the ceremony."
The bridesmaids — maid of honour Nicoal Tyson, Sharon Dickie, Sylvia Mackal, Kayla Hatch and Pamela Taylor — also came up big as a support team for the bride-to-be.
Friends and family gathered flowers from around the house and decorated the stage.
And at 2:30 p.m. — just a half hour after the original scheduled time — the ceremony began.
The sun came out for a little bit and the wind had mainly died down — although it did blow the bride's veil off her head. Following the wedding pictures and dinner, the dancing began with the guests partying until three or four o'clock the next morning as DJ Kent Stephany kept the party going.
There was a 10 to 15-minute stretch where there was no power and the generator was temporarily down, but the guests continued on the dance floor, singing the words to the song in the pitch black of the night.
At one point, a fire truck showed up as a transformer on a pole down the street had exploded and caught fire.
The photographer, Angela Waterberg of Blush Photography, told Vaissade that many other Lower Mainland weddings had to be postponed that day, and one unlucky groom was trapped in an underground parking garage.
"So many weddings got cancelled, and the fact we managed to pull it off, and still had an awesome time, it is crazy," Vaissade said.
"I cannot give enough props to our family and friends. They all just pulled together. They were amazing."
The newlyweds leave for their honeymoon in Italy and France on Tuesday (Sept. 1). 
