GONZALES, La. – With no homes, few possessions and futures filled with uncertainty, two couples from New Orleans decided there were at least two things they were sure of – they wanted to get married, and they didn't want to wait.
The couples became a symbol of hope for shelter residents and volunteers in this small, close-knit town, amid the bleak ruins left by Hurricane Katrina.
After hearing on Wednesday that the couples wanted to wed, excited volunteers got everything donated in four days – church sites, dresses, flowers, tuxes, rings and fixings for a jambalaya reception at Gonzales' Lamar-Dixon Expo Center shelter for 1,800 people after separate ceremonies on Sunday.
"You need things like this at times like these," said Dr. Ali Iftikhar of Galveston, who was volunteering at the shelter.
Troy Williams, 37, and Dorothy Merrick, 47, told American Red Cross volunteers that after a two-year relationship, they were ready to tie the knot.
"At first, everyone took us for a joke," said Ms. Merrick.
Mr. Williams had wanted to marry Ms. Merrick since he met her at a rehabilitation center a couple of years ago. But she had resisted.
"We're both products of alcohol and drug rehabilitation, and Troy wasn't ready yet," Ms. Merrick said. But one night, lying on the air mattress next to him in the shelter, she realized that if they could survive the hurricane and the wall of water that surged through afterward, marriage should be easy.
"One night the spirit woke me and said to me, 'You're sleeping with that man, marry him! Wake him up and tell him!' " she said.
Keishona L. Frazier, 20, and Robbie Roby, 22, said they also knew it was time. Already engaged, the pair's wedding had been delayed by the hurricane.
"They're barely making it, but love conquers all," said Mr. Roby's father, Michael Nelson. "My boy has never been in trouble. It's because he loves that girl with all his heart. It's not a surprise marriage, just a surprise date."
Neither ceremony was subdued. Tears streamed down Ms. Frazier's smiling face as she walked down the aisle. The couples laughed during their vows and kissed with gusto. Red Cross volunteers, wearing shorts and signature vests, cried in the back rows of both churches.
Taking the risk
The couples are bucking a trend. About 41 percent of New Orleans' residents over age 15 have never married, while another 12 percent are divorced.
"A lot of people don't want to get married. They're scared of getting hurt," said Jauvanda Carter, Mr. Williams' cousin and a resident at the River Center shelter in Baton Rouge. "We are the 'poor people,' " she said. "If you're married, you can lose a lot of the benefits, the food stamps, the welfare."
Mr. Nelson agreed.
"In New Orleans, you've got a million people that can barely afford buying something for their kids for Christmas, let alone get married," he said.
The marriages shouldn't affect the couples' disaster victim benefits, according to a Red Cross spokeswoman, who said that benefits are calculated based on a person's situation at the time of the disaster. A telephone message on Sunday requesting comment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was not returned.
Always a bridesmaid
The two weddings made for a party.
"We can get knocked down, but we'll pick ourselves back up and take our neighbors' hand," said shelter volunteer Jennifer Cross, who coordinated the weddings and was bridesmaid in both.
The celebrations were a chance for Katrina survivors to think about the future rather than their devastating losses. "It gives us hope," said Lee Gonzales, a resident at the Lamar-Dixon shelter.
The wedding guests were other evacuees and any family members near enough to make it.
The vows were traditional and simple, although the planning wasn't. Ms. Cross and a couple of her friends and family members had worked round-the-clock to plan the events and gather all the donations.
The brides got to pick dream gowns and veils. Even the pink roses and lilies in Ms. Merrick's bouquet matched the plastic bracelet she has to wear to identify herself as a shelter resident.
"We weren't looking for all this," said Mr. Roby. "They just took it and ran. It's a blessing."
After the ceremonies and before the reception, the couples met one another for the first time. Ms. Frazier, now Mrs. Roby, didn't want to take off her dress as she sat among the cots conducting a receiving line of sorts.
"We'll try to keep these dresses on as long as we can without dying in the heat," said Ms. Cross, the shelter volunteer.
Instead of sleeping with about 1,600 other residents, the four were elated to hear they'll get real honeymoons. A local church offered rooms at a retreat for a week.
The giving overwhelmed the couples, who both hope to settle near here, where it's "peaceful and safe." The town of Gonzales, which had no storm damage, has about 8,100 people. Many of them work at petrochemical plants and for the state government in Baton Rouge.
Mr. Roby has gotten a job as a deckhand in a nearby town, and Mr. Williams got a job as a machine pump operator at Eagle Construction and Environmental Service. Mrs. Williams is hoping to hear about a position soon.
"Every time I turn around, God is continuing to bless," said Mr. Williams.
E-mail kfairbank@dallasnews.com
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