The Wedding That Almost Wasn't

It was the night of July 22, and the bride and groom were eagerly packing for their dream wedding in Punta Cana. Everything was perfect—until it wasn’t. Just after 11:00 p.m., my phone rang. On the other end was the bride, her voice was calm. “Our flights are canceled,” she said.

I quickly learned that due to a major IT outage at Delta, the couple and four of their family members were stranded. Delta couldn’t rebook them until the day of the wedding (July 27)—far too late to pull off the destination celebration they had been planning of for months. As their travel agent, I knew missing the wedding wasn’t an option.

Without missing a beat, I pulled up my resources. Time was ticking, and I had to find alternative flights, fast. After hours of searching and making countless calls, I finally found a solution. Spirit and Frontier Airlines could get them to Punta Cana, but it would be tricky. They would need to fly to Philadelphia first on July 23 and then continue on to Punta Cana the next day, July 24.  

It wasn’t ideal—they would miss one day of their trip—but it was the only option that could still make their dream wedding a reality. The couple and their family agreed, grateful to salvage what could have been a disaster. Meanwhile, the rest of the wedding guests, who were scheduled to leave later that week, would still arrive in time without any issues.  That night, I did not sleep.  

On July 27, the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Punta Cana played host to a stunning wedding, just as planned. The bride and groom said their vows under the Caribbean sun, surrounded by loved ones. No one in attendance could have guessed how close it had all come to falling apart.

It wasn’t just good fortune; it was the determination, quick thinking, and persistence that got them there. As a travel agent, sometimes the real job is to make sure that even when things go wrong, they still turn out right. 

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