TYNGSBORO -- Caitlin Kane had no excuse not to make it to her wedding on time. She and her bridesmaids got ready at her parents' house and before the ceremony was scheduled to begin, walked out the front door, down the driveway, crossed the road and arrived at the ceremony's destination -- St. Mary Magdalen Parish.

The brigade of women dressed in floor-length gowns, the bride dressed in white -- led by the ring bearer, Kaleb Palmer, the bride's nephew, who held a homemade "Bride Crossing" sign -- caused quite a stir among the parishioners leaving the 4 p.m. Saturday Mass.

"I kind of felt like a celebrity," said Kane. "The priest told all of the guests that there was a wedding and we were going to be walking across the street. People who attended Mass before the wedding watched us and were taking pictures.

"Here's me and my posse walking across the street," she said laughing.

The family hired a police officer who blocked traffic while the bridal party safely crossed the street.

"It was really nice. It kind of made it more fun than the usual cool car," said Kane, of a bride's usual mode of transportation to her big moment.

Kane's parents, Cathy and Tom Brackett, live on Lakeview Avenue directly across from St. Mary Magdalen.

The Aug. 4 Kane/Brackett wedding was the first wedding The Rev. Ron St. Pierre, the church's pastor, performed in the recently constructed sanctuary, adding another special element to the ceremony.

"It was wonderful the first wedding happened to be our good neighbors across the street," said St. Pierre.

"For me, to have this history in the church with my fiancé, it was nice, it made it really unique and it made it really special," Kane said.

Cathy Brackett said St. Pierre also administered Kane's first Holy Communion and confirmation, two of the Catholic Church's sacraments, and her daughter Megan Goodale's wedding.

Brackett said her daughter wasn't sure she wanted to get married in Tyngsboro because her husband's family is from Chicopee, where the couple now lives.

"I told her, 'Father Ron knows you. It's unusual that happens today that the priest really knows the bride,'" Brackett said she told her daughter. " 'It's your church and it's your wedding.'"

The family has been parishioners of St. Mary Magdalen for 12 years. They went to the church when it was down the road on Lake Mascuppic in Dracut.

Caitlin met her husband, Joseph Kane, when they attended Westfield State College. Caitlin, 25, is a kindergarten teacher in Chicopee.

The ceremony had another unique element that made it memorable -- the power kept flickering on and off.

A summer thunderstorm came rumbling in during the ceremony.

St. Pierre said there was thunder and lightning as the couple was exchanging their vows.

"It added some more sense of humor to the whole process," said St. Pierre. "We can't take ourselves so seriously."

The bride stayed calm and just looked at the groom and smiled.

"A lot of people said it made it more romantic because it was a wedding by candlelight," she said.

Follow Sarah Favot on Twitter @sarahfavot.