Fort Worth

Barbecue Caterer Doubles as Officiant to Save Fort Worth Wedding

A wedding goes from desperation to celebration after the preacher was a no-show

NBCUniversal, Inc.

A Fort Worth couple whose pastor never showed up to their wedding still found a way to finish the ceremony when the barbecue caterer just so happened to be an ordained minister.

"We were ready to get married,โ€ groom Luis Garcia said.

"I had already gotten ready,โ€ bride Sarah Garcia said. โ€œMy dress was on."

But then they realized, there was a problem.

"I was like, where's the pastor?" Luis Garcia said.

The officiant never made it, but the caterer, Jube Joubert of Jube's smokehouse, was there with barbecue food for everyone.

With the ceremony starting soon, the bride's mother asked Joubert a longshot question.

"You wouldn't happen to be an ordained minister?โ€ Joubert quoted her as saying. โ€œI just thought that was funny. I go, 'Fact about it, I am.'โ€

"I busted out crying,โ€ Sarah Garcia said after hearing the news.

"I was like, 'Have no fear, the preacher is here!'" Joubert said.

Within minutes, the pitmaster was pulling double duty as a preacher.

"I would have sped home and put on a 3-piece suit from three different Easters if that's what they wanted,โ€ Joubert said.

But that wasn't necessary, the couple wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. Overall, the wedding went from desperation to celebration.

"And then we signed the marriage license," Garcia said.

"Ten minutes later, they were smooching!" Joubert added.

"It's really crazy,โ€ Garcia said. โ€œI don't believe this was an accident. I believe this was supposed to happen."

The high school sweethearts, who both played the trumpet in the Northside High School band and started dating two years ago, said their wedding was just perfect after all.

"After that, we just had great food. It was amazing," Luis Garcia said.

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