Sometimes the best-laid plans can end with a wedding ceremony in the dark.
Guests thought it was simply mood lighting when a New York City-wide blackout hit a wedding at the Plaza Hotel on Fifth Avenue on Saturday, the bride’s brother told the New York Times. But it was a Con Edison problem that left parts of the Upper West Side and Midtown in darkness. Needless to say, Amy Rosenthal and Craig Silverstein’s wedding was not what they expected.
Though the blackout was scary for those trapped in elevators and subway cars — and for the 73,000 Con Edison customers left without power for hours, as the Associated Press reports — Rosenthal told the New York Times that her wedding ended up being beautiful. “It was unbelievable,” the newlywed told the Times. “Everyone stepped up and were doing everything in their power to make the night a special one.”
Beyond nuptials, the mass power outage could have potentially stopped Broadway shows and a Jennifer Lopez concert from happening. But shows like Hadestown, which won Best Musical at the Tony Awards this year, and Waitress the Musical took their performances to the streets, treating some to free songs near Times Square.
Even the Millennial Choir and Orchestra gave their performance outside Carnegie Hall, which also lost power.
It is New York, after all, and the show must go on.
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Write to Rachel E. Greenspan at rachel.greenspan@time.com