Published: September 04, 2008 09:35 pm            

Hanna can't stop Ashland couple from SC beach wedding

CHERRY GROVE, S.C. — John Workman was nervous Thursday, but not because Tropical Storm Hanna was expected to skirt past the beachfront home he'd rented for the week. He was pacing because he was getting married in an hour.

Workman, 30, and his 24-year-old bride Helen Riley, both of Ashland, Ky., had been planning their Sept. 4 sunset wedding on the beach for months as part of a vacation for their families. Workman nervously watched the weather through the week — and his wish that Hanna would hold off long enough for him to get hitched came true.

"I haven't been watching it because I didn't want to know," Riley said, looking down from the third-floor balcony at their wedding trellis and flowers swaying in an ocean breeze.

Twenty-four white chairs were set up in the sand about 75 feet from the breaking waves. They invited 50 people, but more than half canceled their trips because of the storm.

The couple, who met more than six years ago, don't have any honeymoon plans. Instead, they plan to stay in the house through Saturday, as the winds and rain of Hanna are expected to move in.

They had already talked about keeping their wedding outside even if it rained. After all, rain is considered a good luck for a marriage.

"I started to think we were going to be really lucky," Riley said.

Workman and Riley haven't decided if they are going to have children. But if they have a girl, Riley said, "naming her Hanna isn't such a bad idea."

        

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