Couple weds despite flood

• Walking down the aisle

Photo by David Samson/Forum Communications Co. Newlyweds Tiffany Johnson and Peter Engh walk down the aisle after their wedding ceremony at Our Saviour Lutheran Church on Saturday in Minot.

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MINOT — Pete Engh will have no excuse to forget his anniversary.

In the midst of historic flooding, Engh and his bride, Tiffany Johnson, made last-minute adjustments so they could tie the knot here Saturday.

Their church was flooded, relatives had to take long detours to avoid swamped roads and the bridal shop closed days ago before steaming the dresses or altering the tuxes.

But the Burlington couple — who luckily live on a hill — didn’t want to change their wedding date because guests had already made travel plans.

Engh spent much of last week sandbagging and volunteering for friends and family in Burlington affected by the flooded Souris River.

Johnson and her mother, Mary Johnson, worked fast to keep the wedding on track as unprecedented flooding changed their plans.

“It’s been very chaotic,” Tiffany said.

They moved the ceremony from Christ Lutheran Church, which had floodwaters lapping at the bottom of sanctuary windows Saturday, to Our Savior Lutheran in southwest Minot.

Mary made new programs with the new church name, and she and the groom’s mother, Connie Engh, steamed the bridesmaid dresses themselves.

Their reception at Sleep Inn, also in the southern part of town, was unaffected.

Even though the flood added to their pre-wedding stress, family members kept that in perspective with the disaster going on around them.

“We just kind of have to laugh about some of the stuff that’s stressing us out,” Mary said. “There’s a lot of people in a lot worse shape than we are.”

Dalrymple is a reporter at The Forum of

Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by

Forum Communications Co.

Tags: souris river, news, flood, minot, wedding