"You can't put it into words," he said from his home in Sea Isle City, where the bridal party was preparing.

Scullin said Perry and his daughter were close friends for years in Delaware.

"She was a beautiful person," he said. "It was a tragic accident."

Scullin said he feels Perry would have wanted the wedding to go on.

The Rev. Stephen Carey, who presided over the wedding Friday at St. Joseph's, declined to comment, but he acknowledged it was a difficult time for all involved.

"I had a bad day with the family," he said.

Sea Isle City police Lt. Dennis Felsing said Maykut and Perry left the Deauville Inn in neighboring Strathmere shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday.

Maykut was driving south and tried to pass another vehicle on the two-lane Landis Avenue when he lost control of the car and slammed into a telephone pole, Felsing said. Wrapping paper and what appeared to be gift ribbons were visible in the smashed car when rescuers were on the scene early Friday morning.

A severe northeastern storm rocked and flooded coastal communities Monday. It caused ocean waves to breach the dunes in Sea Isle City, flooding Landis Avenue in that area and leaving behind sand that was still on the road Friday.

Felsing said the sand may have been a factor in the crash. The accident is under investigation by the Cape May County Fatal Accident Team, he said.

Maykut, a part-time technical sergeant with the Delaware Air National Guard, was treated at Cape Regional Medical Center for minor injuries. He was taken to the Cape May County Jail on $100,000 bail.

The wedding party had a rehearsal dinner Thursday night at the Deauville Inn, a restaurant and bar. The affair was small, quiet and low-key, said Deauville Inn General Manager Linda Brown.

The party ate dinner and sat on a back deck that overlooks the water and the Corsons Inlet drawbridge.

"When they left, everybody was fine," Brown said.

Some of the guests stayed after the rehearsal to watch the end of the Philadelphia Flyers playoff game, she said.

As the wedding took place Friday afternoon, a bagpiper played "Scotland the Brave" outside the church. Not all of the wedding guests were aware of the accident that had happened the previous night. Two wedding guests who arrived late and who were friends with Perry didn't know she had died until they arrived at the church.

They were shocked and tried to stifle tears when they found out.

Relatives and neighbors of Perry could not be reached Friday.

Maykut was recently named Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year by Delaware Air National Guard for his work with the 166th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. Maykut recently served in Afghanistan, working as a crew chief to service C-130 transport plane. Military spokesman Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Matwey said Maykut returned from Afghanistan in April.

In the Air Force, Maykut was a crew chief in charge of maintaining F-15 fighter planes. He was a member of the support team for combat air-patrol missions over Washington, D.C., after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York.

Staff Writer Michael Miller and The Wilmington News-Journal contributed to this report.

To e-mail Brian Ianieri at The Press:

BIanieri@pressofac.com