The guests had arrived, the pastor was in place and the ceremony ready to start.
The guests had arrived, the pastor was in place and the ceremony ready to start.
For newlyweds Wenndy and Chris Klepps, only one problem loomed Wednesday morning, minutes before they tied the knot — Hurricane Madeline.
“I remember going outside and watching the clouds go darker,” 44-year-old Chris recalled. “I thought, ‘This is going to be good. We’re going to remember this.’”
While most of the island hunkered down Wednesday awaiting unknown impacts of the hurricane (later downgraded to a tropical storm), the Kleppses exchanged wedding vows. They set the date nearly two weeks prior. This week, they nervously tracked storm forecasts, some of which predicted effects worse than Tropical Storm Iselle in 2014.
Luckily, the Klepps’ 15-minute ceremony at Puna Baptist Church went off without a hitch. They celebrated over lunch. Then, they postponed honeymoon plans in Kona and opted instead to spend the remainder of their wedding day bundled up at home.
“The weather was definitely a big question,” said Wenndy, 46. “Especially (Tuesday) night. It was like, ‘Wow, this could get really bad,’ and we were definitely thinking we could get a phone call in the morning from the pastor saying we have to reschedule or something, or we’d need to find a different location because there was a tree through the roof or something. So, that was a little stressful. But it all worked out — it worked out perfectly.”
The Kleppses say they met seven years ago online. Chris is an Iraq War veteran and said Wenndy has “followed me through thick and thin,” even as he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“She’s taken care of me,” he said.
The couple moved to Pahoa about three years ago to pursue work in beekeeping. They’ve been engaged since March and originally planned an elaborate wedding for this fall in Kona. But life “got busy,” Wenndy said, and they discussed pushing it out until next year. This month, however, Chris announced he wanted to elope.
“When he wants something done, it gets done,” Wenndy said. “So, we called the pastor over at the church and set it up.”
Puna Baptist Pastor Alan Tamashiro said the Klepps’ ceremony — attended by just a few friends and family — marked his second storm wedding this summer. Earlier this year, he said he married a couple during Tropical Storm Darby.
If a hurricane had been in full swing, Tamashiro said he would have consulted with the couple about changing plans. But he said things looked OK when he arrived at the church early Wednesday.
“For me, I’m always thinking that marrying people brings them closer to God,” Tamashiro said. “That’s my role. So, I had questions about (Wednesday) morning’s wedding and about whether we should continue it, but I never voiced them and I never heard from them … and it was a good experience. Once you get your mind out of whatever else is going on, then it becomes a really meaningful time for two people in a relationship who are now husband and wife.”
The Kleppses say they plan to name their next pet — probably a cat — Madeline in honor of their storm wedding. They say the experience was indicative of their relationship.
“I’m more of the calm before the storm, whereas he’s the eye of the hurricane,” Wenndy said. “Getting married during a hurricane is just us.”
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.