Annie Peeters and Brian Peeters’ wedding night was a night to remember. After evacuating Timberline Lodge due to a fire, the couple and their guests had to make do with bunk beds at the Silcox Hut. Despite the unexpected circumstances, the ceremony went off without a hitch, and the newlyweds celebrated late into the evening with their loved ones.
The couple had traveled to Oregon from their home in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, for their wedding. They were supposed to spend their wedding night in Timberline Lodge’s bridal suite, but those plans went up in smoke when the fire broke out. Without stopping to change out of their wet swimming suits, the couple grabbed their belongings and fled the lodge. They ended up spending the night at a Best Western in Government Camp.
The next morning, Annie Peeters texted with the manager of the Silcox Hut, hoping to find out if the wedding could still take place. The manager called around 8:15 a.m. to say that the wedding could proceed, but only because Annie Peeters and several bridesmaids had transported her dress and the flowers, cake, decorations, food, and alcohol the previous day – hours before the fire.
Groups of attendees took turns riding the Snowcat up to the Silcox Hut, and the ceremony went off without a hitch around 5:30 p.m., as planned. The rest of the night went as wedding nights do, with the newlyweds partying late into the evening with the friends and family that had flown in from around the country.
The new plan was for everyone to stay the night at the Silcox Hut – Timberline Lodge was still closed because of the fire. That meant about two dozen people had to sleep in bunk beds, including the newlyweds. And because of limited space, Annie and Brian Peeters had to share a room, separated from a hall by curtains, with Annie Peeters’ sister. “I’m not sleeping in your bunk bed with you guys,” she said, Peeters recalled. “Yes, you need a bed,” Peeters said. “Where else are you going to sleep?”
When they were turning in around 1:30 a.m., Brian Peeters was trying to find his pajamas in the bag that he had stuffed with clothes before evacuating Timberline Lodge the prior night. “He’s rummaging through a black garbage bag, being a little loud and clunky, and she’s like, ‘Okay, you guys,’” Peeters recalled. “We were laughing about the garbage bag.”
The couple is now back home in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho.