First Came Lightning, Then Marriage

Jamie Drucker and Scott Huber met on a party bus on the way to Virginia’s Gold Cup horse race, in 2014. “A mutual friend introduced us,” Ms. Drucker said. “I looked for him on Facebook the next day and couldn’t find him. Later that day, I got a Facebook message from Scott asking me out.”

Ms. Drucker and Mr. Huber, both 34, were 27 at the time, and living in Arlington, Va. (she was an account executive at DC Modern Luxury magazine and he was a senior associate with the accounting firm Price Waterhouse Coopers). It was the first serious relationship for each of them. Her friends often asked when she would get serious with someone. “I always said, ‘One day I’ll just be ready once I meet the right guy,’ and that is exactly what happened,” she said.

The couple’s Facebook messaging led to a first date at an Arlington restaurant called Circa. From there, they spent an increasing amount of time together, including going sailing, which Ms. Drucker, who is from Millburn, N.J., had never really done before. They now have a sailboat of their own.

On Easter weekend in 2019, when his brother was in town, Mr. Huber, who is originally from Alexandria, Va., proposed at the same place where he and Ms. Drucker had their first date. After they ate, he led her in front of a nearby fountain. “He said, ‘I have to ask you a question,’” Ms. Drucker said.

As they headed to the car after the proposal, he said he needed to stop. They walked into Wilson Hardware Kitchen & Bar. “And I heard all this cheering,” Ms. Drucker said. “I looked up and it was our parents and all of our closest friends.”

The couple now live in Falls Church, Va. Ms. Drucker is a customer success manager at International Data Group, and Mr. Huber works at the Siegfried Group as a financial consultant.

They postponed their wedding from Aug. 29, 2020, to Aug. 27, 2021, and were wed at a location very special to them, the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club in Stevensville, Md., 10 minutes from where they keep their sailboat.

There were drawbacks to postponing, Ms. Drucker said. But a plus was that one of her bridesmaids, whose pregnancy due date was dangerously near the original wedding date, was able to attend.

Another friend, who was battling cancer and had a stem cell transplant close to the original date, is now in remission and could make the event, too. “Her recovery has been the bright light during these dark days of Covid,” Ms. Drucker said.

Despite all their hopes for a sunny, bay front wedding, that morning, the forecast was for a major storm come ceremony time.

Their coordinator monitored the storm’s progress closely. As the hour approached, she started the wedding 10 minutes early to beat the rain. And they did — although the thunder and lightning had begun.

Andrew Smith, a longtime friend of the couple, was ordained for the occasion by the Universal Life Church.

“Saying vows in the lightning was very dramatic,” Ms. Drucker said. Though they couldn’t have known they would get married with a storm raging, their vows were apropos.

“I promise to take out the trash even if it’s raining,” Mr. Huber said. “I vow to continue to put my trust in you even if we are sailing in a small craft advisory,” Ms. Drucker said.

Dinner was served in the ballroom with dancing in the same indoor/outdoor area as the cocktail hour, for additional Covid safety. “The room has huge windows and a garage door,” Ms. Drucker said. “Everything was open until the storm rolled in. Then they closed everything up. Once the storm passed, they opened it all up again.” About 90 percent of the guests were vaccinated. The couple provided hand sanitizer and according to Ms. Drucker, offered a “‘choose your own adventure’ wedding. You could pick your own comfort level of space.”

The couple took lessons to prepare for their first dance, to Chris Stapleton’s “Millionaire.” “My dress was a really good twirling dress,” Ms. Drucker said. “So, the dance had lots of twirls.”