04:17 PM CDT on Sunday, September 18, 2005

Stacey Plaisance / Associated Press

GONZALES -- In a little Baptist church tucked among trees near a pasture, a New Orleans couple exchanged wedding vows and, at least for a moment, forgot that they were homeless, penniless and living in a shelter indefinitely with hundreds of other evacuees.

The handful of American Red Cross volunteers who helped plan the couple's big day sat in a pew at the back of the church. Some cried as the couple declared their love for one another in a Sunday morning ceremony.

"I stand before God and before these people to tell you I love you," said Troy Williams to his bride, Dorothy Merrick.

The couple fled the New Orleans area with family and friends the day before Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast. They first evacuated with church members on a privately owned bus to a shelter in Baton Rouge, 75 miles away. A few days later they relocated 22 miles closer to New Orleans at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center in Gonzales.

Williams and Merrick were one of two couples at the shelter who were engaged before the storm hit. The other couple, Keishona Frazier and Robbie Roby, also of New Orleans, were married in an afternoon ceremony at the shelter's chapel. There was a joint reception for both couples, complete with jambalaya.

A local Prairieville native Jennifer Cross helped organize Sunday's ceremonies. Cross served as a bridesmaid for both brides. She said the planning started Wednesday, and by Sunday, the chapels, dresses, flowers and food were lined up.

"That's the thing about Louisianians," Cross said. "You can kick us down, but we get right back up."

The Ascension Parish community came together to make the weddings "more than just two ministers and an exchanging of vows," said volunteer Barbara Peterson.

The bride spent Sunday morning getting her hair and makeup done with the assistance of volunteers and other evacuees at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center. Although she was an hour late to the altar, she looked radiant in her donated white satin A-line gown, beaded headpiece and veil. She carried a modest bouquet of pink and white lillies and roses, also donated.

American Red Cross workers said both couples planned to stay in the Gonzales area. Williams, who worked in construction in New Orleans, said he has been hired by another company locally.

As for a honeymoon, there was talk of trying to make it to Houston, maybe later.

"Praise God we came this far," Merrick said.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)