SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Lightning, a pounding thunderstorm and a lengthy power outage June 28 may have disrupted long-laid wedding plans, but the parties continued - with a little improvisation.

When the lights went out at 8:41 p.m., it became a nightmare scenario for one new bride.

Drew and Angela (Pond) Houwling danced their first waltz as husband and wife by candlelight after a power failure June 28. - photo courtesy of Angela Houwling

Angela (Pond) Houwling, her new husband Drew and their guests had just finished eating dinner and delivering their speeches when the power failed.

Suddenly, the entire night's plan had to be changed.

"I just couldn't believe that after all my planning and the planning my fiance did that the power would go out," said Houwling.

So without any electricity, lights or a sound system, guests formed a circle around them in the centre of the hall.

"I danced my first waltz with my husband to a battery-operated stereo," said Houwling.

"Everyone held a candle in one hand and a sparkler in the other so that we could see."

The guests were quiet.

"Everyone was crying throughout the dance because it was just so unique and so romantic," she said.

"I bawled the whole time. It was very romantic."

The power wouldn't be restored until after midnight.

The Houwlings weren't the only couple celebrating their wedding during the power-outage.

"If lightning didn't strike the church it had to strike somewhere else," joked Candace Meadus.

Candace (Underhay) and Roland Meadus were also having their wedding reception when the power went out.

Despite the storm clouds, it was still bright enough outside the Elks Hall, where they were celebrating, to relocate to the parking lot.

"We danced our first dance to a slow song played on a GMC Sierra truck stereo," she said.

"I threw the bouquet from the truck."

The Meadus wedding eventually moved to their Yellowknife home where they secured a generator and lit about 40 candles.

"We partied until 7 a.m. and then in the morning my in-laws came back and wouldn't let us out of bed until they'd cleaned the whole house," she said.

Angela Houwling and her husband said they made the best of what could been a bad situation.

"It was pretty frustrating," said Houwling.

"There was just a lot of emotion because of what happened; we didn't get to do a lot of what we'd planned."

The prolonged power outage cut their celebration short as regulations shut down the facility where they were gathered.

However, the Houwlings agreed their first dance together as a married couple was the most romantic one they'd ever seen.

"In the end, it's not about the reception," she said.

"We still got married and that's what really matters."