Fairhaven Groom Gets Stuck on Martha’s Vineyard on Wedding Day

What started off as an awesome weekend on Martha's Vineyard was almost a disaster for myself and a man named Bill Berch.

Berch is a Fairhaven resident who works for the Steamship Authority ferry that travels between Woods Hole, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. This guy is so dedicated to his job that he worked up until the very day of his wedding.

Now, before I dive deeper into that story, let me lay out the problematic situation. At 6:30 a.m. this past Saturday morning, all ferries, planes and transportation off of the island were canceled for the remainder of the day due to inclement weather. Gusts and wind gales were being measured at 50 knots, enough to push over a large ferry. The waves were over six feet tall and the ocean was looking rough.

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My original plan was to leave on the Seastreak Fast Ferry out of Oaks Bluffs to head back to New Bedford around 10:15 a.m.. It just so happened that I had a wedding to DJ that night and immediately panic ensued.

So now, Berch and myself are both unaware of each other's situations, but both stuck on the island with anxiety a mile high. When I tell you I looked for every possible solution to get back home, trust me, I looked for every possible solution. I was ready to take a jet ski back if it meant being in time for my friend Jaime's wedding. Whatever I had to do, i was going to be there and that was the bottom line.

It wasn't until I was miraculously on a 10:45 Steamship Authority ferry when I met Bertch, and the irony was just too close for comfort for both parties. I whipped out my microphone and asked him how he was feeling at that very moment, knowing that he was going to make his own wedding by the skin of his teeth, and this is what he had to say:

I guess it just goes to show that Mother Nature is nothing to reckon with and when it comes to your wedding day, no matter how bad you feel for the company and want to help out, keep in mind that your fiancé might have a different opinion.

In the end, both Berch and myself got home safe as the ferry took us to Wood's Hole on the Cape and respectfully went along on our separate ways to our venues. Cue Frank Sinatra's "Luck Be A Lady, Tonight."