IT HAD all the makings of a disastrous wedding, but Courtney Smith’s special day wasn’t spoiled by the unrelenting thunder and electrical storms, which caused a two-hour blackout midway through the reception.
Storms that swept across the Riverina over the weekend hit no one harder than the Smith’s.
Their wedding guests had just finished their entrees when the power went out at the Tumut RSL.
Two hours and a few private tears later, power was returned thanks to the help of the Tumut State Emergency Service (SES).
It would have been pitch darkness had there not been candle centre pieces.
“So it was very intimate,” a positive Mrs Smith laughed.
Mrs Smith’s cousin and his friend, who were both guests at the wedding and Tumut SES members, were onto the case straight away.
“The SES came with generators and floodlights,” Mrs Smith said.
“They got the kitchen back up and running to get mains out then we hooked up the jukebox so we could have our first dance.”
The couple marked their special day with Celine Dion’s Because You Loved Me.
The couple’s guests had travelled from Tasmania and Queensland, but their spirits weren’t dampened by mother nature’s wrath.
“It’s not how I planned it, but all the guests just made it,” Mrs Smith said.
“It’s a great story.
“Who else can say they had rain, storms and a black-out on their wedding day?”
The storm and ensuing cold front across the region was caused by cold air travelling from the Southern Ocean across the state, according to Wagga’s Bureau of Meteorological (BOM) technical officer, Robbie Lennard.
The Riverina can expect the cold temperatures, rain and wind to continue over the coming days as the back end of the low moves through from the Bass Strait.
“It tends to happen during winter this time of the year,” Mr Lennard said.
The month of July is proving colder than previous years, averaging an overnight temperature of 1.9 degrees to be .8 of a degree below the monthly average.
More rain is in sights with an 80 per cent chance of rain in the coming days, but it’s expected to clear by Wednesday. BOM has warned Riverina and South West Slope sheep graziers that cold temperatures, showers and strong westerly winds are expected, causing a high risk of losses of lambs and sheep exposed to these conditions.
