Jen Mackin said she's prayed every day since her July engagement for snow -- "just a little snow" -- for her winter-themed wedding, scheduled for Saturday.

"He answered my prayer, a little too much," she said, standing in the foyer of St. Paul Cathedral. She was decked out for her wedding in a silk-and-tulle gown with an elaborately sequined bodice; a snowflake-shaped diamond necklace adorned her neck.

It was just minutes before she was to walk down the aisle to marry her high school sweetheart, Army 1st Lt. Raymond Fisher, and she was cool as a cucumber, even though nearly every aspect of her wedding -- from power at the reception hall to the ice sculpture to the bridesmaids' hair and makeup -- was thrown into jeopardy by the weekend's historic storm.

About two-thirds of nearly 300 invited guests, including one of the members of the groom's party, were no-shows at the time of the ceremony. The couple's horse-drawn carriage ride to the reception hall was cancelled. The priest, a family friend, was snowed in, so a priest from the Cathedral volunteered to fill in.

There were also plenty of close calls.

At one point, they weren't sure they would have power or a deejay at their wedding reception in the social hall of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Oakland. The wedding photographers made it in, but only after a six-hour drive from Greensburg. And to add insult to injury, the couple got a call that the ice sculpture might not make it to the reception.

James Mackin, the visibly nervous father of the bride, spoke of how he made the harrowing trip from his home in Ross to drop off the groom at a hotel in Green Tree. On his trip back, he was less than a mile from his house when he had to ditch his car because it got stuck in the snow, only to realize that he had left his tuxedo in the car.

"We made plans, God laughs," he said with a smile.

But thanks to the extraordinary measures of a handful of people, much of the wedding did come together. The Golden Corral restaurant in Robinson was going to close early, but stayed open for the couple's rehearsal dinner. When the bride and her entourage arrived at Macy's Saturday morning to get their hair and makeup done, the store was closed. But four hairdressers and makeup artists came in -- some of them making the commute on foot -- because they didn't want to disappoint the bride. Even the ice sculpture was delivered eventually.

But throughout the ordeal on her way to becoming Mrs. Fisher, the bride remained nonplused. An intensive care nurse at UPMC Mercy, she said she watches people die every day, so she was not about to get worked up over snow.

"This is fine," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's an exciting day ... no way I was going to cancel."

She shook off the disappointment that came with the storm to focus on her husband, who took a three-week leave and returned from South Korea, where he's stationed, to get married. After their honeymoon, she likely won't see him for four or five months.

And when the mother of the bride, Kathy Mackin, fretted that the storm would ruin the day, it was her daughter who calmed her down.

"She said, 'The day will be perfect because it's my wedding day,'" Mrs. Mackin recalled, tears filling her eyes.

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