'I was so upset:' Irma forces Fuquay couple to postpone wedding

Lee Holmes and Amber Cox had planned to be married on September 9 in St. Lucia.

"We were trying to make it as close to a dream destination wedding as possible," Holmes said.

"We knew it was hurricane season and they never were really affected because they were so far south of everything," Cox said.

As it happened, Hurricane Irma steered north of the island. Three days before the big day, the groom's dad and sister and a several other wedding guests made it to St. Lucia. The couple would fly out the next day.

American Airlines broke the news to the bride-to-be.

"She had to console me and I think I upset her at that point because I had 19 family members who were going to be on that flight," Cox said. "We both felt like we had been left at the altar."

Cox, who planned to wear her grandmother's dress, was inconsolable. She also was upset ten people were already there and they weren't able to go.

"It was like witnessing her go through a bad breakup," Lee said.

But once the news traveled, Fuquay-Varina Baptist Church offered to host the wedding and Rock Harbor Grill offered to host the reception. Flowers and cake were all donated.

"I think it recalibrated us. It brought us back," Lee said.

The wedding is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. The couple will travel to Jamaica for their honeymoon.

"We have realized we had each other and that put things in perspective," Cox said.