PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Not only are people at the beaches working to recover from Hurricanes Milton and Helene, but engaged couples are also trying to navigate the recovery.
Wedding companies throughout the Tampa Bay coast are experiencing cancellations and postponements.
“We ended up hanging out one summer while we were both single and slowly, over that summer, we just ended up finding out that we were great friends and fell in love randomly," said Christine Cole, who is marrying Scott Julian in a week.
Cole and Julian have been friends for 25 years and are finally planning on tying the knot.
“I have always had a dream to want to have a beach wedding, this is kind of my home away from home," Cole said. "I'm really happy in Florida in the sun. We have lots of friends down here."
But their wedding plans have been up in the air for months.
“We were actually thinking about doing it in November because we come down in November, but obviously, being so close to the hurricane and cleanup, we just moved it back a couple of weeks,” said Cole.
It’s a situation many couples are experiencing.
“It’s been very stressful," said wedding planners Jimmy Gale and Amy Butler. "The majority of our weddings got canceled or rescheduled into next year, and we are still working on that. It’s a process."
Cole said she’s spent countless hours calling around, seeing what hotels are open and undamaged.
“We had to not only help us and our wedding party find places, but we also had to help our friends and family members in places that got calls as early as last week that they couldn’t get in," Cole said.
She said while her wedding is important, she’s also devastated seeing how her beloved second home, Treasure Island, looks after the storms.
“It’s pretty traumatic and very sad to see," Cole said. "We have lots of friends that live here, and it’s been tough."
Gale and Butler own Totally Tropical Weddings and said they’ve lost a lot of business over the last couple months.
“Everything is still in chaos," Butler said. "Everything is being rebuilt. Businesses aren’t open or are slowly reopening, but you’re not coming down to the exact dream that you had. We can still have a good time and help create your own experience."
Gale and Butler said they are already booking out weddings for 2025 and 2026.
“The community wants to come and support our business," Butler said. "They want to enjoy everything and they are going to come back."
Cole and Julian will get married on Dec. 7 and said they are excited for the future.
“I want to just get married and marry my best friend so we can enjoy life," Julian said.
This week, an unlikely partnership between a sixth-grade student and a barbecue restaurant brought Thanksgiving dinner to hundreds of hurricane victims across Pasco County.
