Hurricane Irma forces Indiana couples to change wedding plans
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Hurricane Irma is forcing several Indiana couples to drastically change or reschedule their weddings, including a WISH-TV reporter and his fiancée.
Daybreak reporter Joe Melillo planned his wedding for this Saturday in Charleston, South Carolina. Thursday he explained over FaceTime from Charleston why he was asking guests to stay home.
“With the threat of evacuation and the threat of a hurricane, instead of putting people in danger for a party when all they’re going to be worried about is how they’re going to get out, we’re going to just cut it and move it,” Melillo said.
Viewers know Melillo as a morning reporter and a host of WISH-TV’s Nerd Panel.
Behind the scenes, he’s spent a year and a half planning a 130-guest destination wedding.
The big party has now been moved to the spring, but the couple will still get married Friday with about 30 of their closest friends and family.
“If [the guests] are here, they are more than welcome to come,” Melillo’s fiancée, Carrie Jones, said. “But we told them all, ‘If you have to evacuate, and you think it’s best for you, then you can go ahead and leave and be safe.’”
Lacy Clagg, an event planner with the Indy Wedding Centre (not associated with the Melillo wedding planning), said the company is planning two destination weddings that will be moved from Florida to Indiana.
“This Saturday, we have a wedding where the officiant isn’t able to travel up in time due to the hurricanes,” Clagg said.
Melillo and Jones are moving their Caribbean honeymoon to January. They plan to head back to Indiana on Saturday as Mr. and Mrs. Melillo.
The couple has reached out to guests to keep them informed and says they’re contacting vendors and airlines about refunds and rescheduling. So far, Melillo says people are cooperating with them and their guests.