I’ve written quite a bit about the beauty of Gage and Sarah’s wedding week and all the wonderful things that happened.
But we all know that no wedding is simple. Into each wedding week, some rain must fall, and we certainly had our share. Here are just a few challenges we dealt with. (These were also a few things that happened that shall remain unblogged.)
Kristin
If you were reading here three weeks ago, you remember that Meagan’s sister, Kristin, got sick at the last minute and couldn’t come. That was a huge setback for the wedding proceedings because she had been the lead wedding planner/organizer/director and been working on it for two months. That meant that at the last minute, Meagan was suddenly doing the job of two people, along with being a bridesmaid and having four small children.
Let me just say right here that I have never seen anyone put their heart into something the way Meagan did during that limited time she had available to pull the wedding off. She worked tirelessly, kept things organized, thought of dozens of things that no one else would have remembered, delegated, followed up on details, decorated, hauled decor in, hauled decor out, kept a calm and cheery attitude while still maintaining the “General marshaling her troops” persona which was necessary to get it all done in time.
One of her tricks was to make judicious use of plastic bins. Each bridesmaid and groomsman had his or her own bin and all the decorations for the dinner reception were divided up by table decor. By the way, she put together the flowers on the black stands.
She was so very determined to give her beloved sister, Sarah (and, of course, Gage), the very best wedding she possibly could and it showed in everything she did. Nathan married himself a good woman!
So even though we lost Kristin’s great input the week leading up to the wedding, we were blessed with the skills and heart of a woman who knew how to get it done. We will always be in Meagan’s debt for making the day so incredibly beautiful and meaningful.
The Fall
The Florida Smiths got in the Wednesday afternoon before the wedding. The plan was to get them settled into their rental house, eat dinner, have Meagan go look over the church set up for a few minutes, and then for her and the family to get a good night’s rest so she could hit the ground running Thursday morning.
Well, as it turns out, she did hit the ground. But not exactly running.
Thursday morning at about 10 a.m., I was at church wondering where everyone was when Meagan called. Turns out that the night before, she and Nathan had pulled up to their rental house in their borrowed van. The van was high up, it was dark and Meagan had Andrew in her arms. She missed a step and she fell back on Grayson’s toes, causing him to fall and smack his head. She hit her knee and ankle on the way down and ending up landing on her elbow and her hip.
Thursday morning, Grayson woke up vomiting which can, of course, indicate a concussion. Meagan called me to say they had been planning on heading into Urgent Care but as some time went on, Grayson had stopped vomiting and was eating and playing. So after consulting a friend in the medical field, they said they felt comfortable going on with their day.
So not only was Meagan running at full speed organizing a billion details, she was also dealing with knee, elbow, and hip pain from the fall.
Hitting the ground running will never have quite the same meaning to us again. We are so thankful no one was seriously injured.
Sunday Speaker
Our friends, Buddy and Cheryl Denton, were in town for the week of the wedding. They live in an RV and speak at churches around the country with an emphasis on ministering to the Russian people. Steve had scheduled Buddy to speak the Sunday after the wedding so that he wouldn’t have to preach after such a big day. Cheryl was excited about being with us during wedding week because she so wanted to assist with the wedding process in any way needed–big or small.
Cheryl is the kind of person who sees what needs to be done before it’s even mentioned and I was so looking forward to having her help and her calming presence around.
Sadly, though, Buddy’s mom had a stroke the Tuesday before the wedding and he and Cheryl left immediately to go be with her and their family. Buddy’s mom ended up passing away the day of the wedding.
Our first concern, of course, was for Buddy and Cheryl and their terrible loss. We had sent them on their way to do what needed to be done and told them not to worry about a thing; we would make plans to get another speaker to take Buddy’s place. As it turned out, though, Buddy decided he wanted to preach anyway, even though it was just 24-hours after his mom’s passing. She was a great preacher herself and he said it was what she would have wanted him to do.
Such a great heritage passed down from generation to generation and so gracious of Buddy to speak in Steve’s place on Sunday, even in the midst of a difficult time. He and Cheryl are true gems and great friends.
I already wrote about this here. Be sure to go back and read it if you missed it the first time around.
So the morning of the wedding, my lovely visions of being ultra-organized and super serene didn’t quite pan out the way I was expecting.
After the wedding rehearsal and dinner Friday night, Meagan had organized a whole crew to rush over to the dinner reception venue and start decorating. They couldn’t get in until 9 p.m. because of another event there, so that was another amazing display of her organizational skills–getting stuff prepped ahead of time so that it could all be loaded in and put into place with maximum efficiency.
Rather than join that crew, I stayed at the church till almost 11 p.m. trying to put the finishing touches on the program that was to be printed and adding lyrics to Gage and Sarah’s slideshow. I didn’t get it all finished, so on Saturday morning, I went back to the church at about 6:45 to work some more before things got crazy.
No makeup. Ratty clothes. Just trying to git’ er done.
After about an hour and a half, I figured I should probably go home and shower and do something to my hair because, well, wedding day.
An hour later, I was back at the church still in blue jeans and a sweatshirt, my hair basically styled but wearing minimal makeup. I was thinking I didn’t need to be ready until family pictures at 11:30. And that was almost true.
I was in my office, dealing with a multitude of technical/design/video issues when Meagan came in and said, “Um, Mom. The photographer is here and she was wanting to get some photos of you helping Sarah into her dress.” (Sarah had to be ready earlier than everyone else for her and Gage’s first look.)
Due to a temporary but decided dearth of mother of the bride common sense where I should have said,”Can that hold a few moments while I change?” I said, “Oh, ok!” I mean I didn’t want to hold up the proceedings, right?
And so I went running upstairs to where Sarah was waiting. In my jeans. And sweatshirt. And makeup-less face.
We actually went ahead and took a couple of photos before we stopped, looked at each other, and I said, “Well, yeah. Maybe I really should go and change.” (Ya think?)
So I sped home, sprinted up the stairs, and in about thirteen minutes, did my make-up, finished my hair, and gathered my dress and accessories. I guess it would have made more sense to actually put my dress on but I was thinking it would be hard to drive in it, so I dragged the dress and a big bag of stuff into the church. I threw on the dress, slapped on my pumps, stuck on my earrings, gave my hair a speedy finger fluff and then hauled myself up the stairs to rejoin the photographer for the real mom/daughter photos.
And then I raced back down the stairs (in gown and high heels) to oversee the printing of the program which, on any other day, would have been a breeze. (And yes, I know I should have had it printed earlier but I won’t even go into all the complexities of why it was delayed.)
If you’ve ever worked with a printer, you know that if it’s going to mess up, it’s not going to be on a lazy Tuesday afternoon. It’s going to be on the morning of your daughter’s wedding.
The printer went merrily along for about forty copies and then stopped dead. I checked the happy little message window.
Cyan toner was out. I replaced it.
Ten minutes later, it stopped again. I checked the happy little message window.
The yellow toner was out. I replaced it.
I started printing again only to discover that something was obviously amiss with one of the new toners because the inside of the program was starting to print in bright, weird colors not found in nature. Just exactly the vibe a vintage wedding is going for.
It was at that moment that all of the self-control and serenity I had been determinedly maintaining over the past eight weeks began to dissipate from my person like soda fizzing out of a bottle.
One of the big things I had wanted to contribute to my daughter’s wedding was the loveliest program I could possibly put together and I had invested many hours in it. (And many thanks to Kristin’s husband, Cody, for assisting me at the last minute.)
I designed most of the front and back . . .
and Cody did the inside.
And suddenly, our wonderful creation was turning into a mess and there was not a thing in the world I could do about it. I was racing back and forth between the copier and my computer, changing settings, muttering, flailing, sweating, and watching horrific colors emerge from the depths of the copier.
It was not a great moment and I came thisclose to laying my head on my desk and giving into loud, mother of the bride wails.
I finally got the idea of turning the inside of the program into grayscale which toned down the weird colors, somewhat. And believe it or not, Gage and Sarah still somehow managed to get married–colorful programs and MOB breakdown, notwithstanding.
it was incredibly therapeutic to go over to the photo shoot location with the wedding party and spend thirty minutes enjoying the serenity of God’s good earth and our friends’ great hospitality.
A few shots of the gazebo floor and top that Fred and Joan designed and built themselves.
And I am so in love with this bench.
In all of the busyness, our indefatigable director found a little smoochin’ time.
About three minutes before the ceremony was to start, Meagan had magically and miraculously gotten the entire wedding party lined up in an upstairs hallway which is a process very much like herding kittens.
Fortunately, she had her assistant, Noah, overseeing the makeup and hair department.
Just as I could see Meagan let out a big sigh of relief at a job well done, my sister-in-law, Berit, came running upstairs to impart the news that there was a communion plate and goblet on the stage, but no communion elements to accompany them.
As it turns out, my sister, Debbie, had been contentedly sitting in her pew when she noticed this rather important omission. She went and found Berit to ask for advice and Berit ran and told Meagan and Meagan ran and told Debbie to put the stuff up there and Debbie enlisted our church member, Jean, to help put the elements together so that the two of them could carry them to the stage and set them up.
Suffice it to say that we didn’t quite make the 1:43 p.m. starting time.
Debbie was so intent on completing her task that she wound up ferrying the bread and juice across the stage in her bare feet. (She had slipped her shoes off while waiting for the wedding to start.)
When she told me about it later, she said she was just slightly appalled that she had walked across a wedding stage with no shoes in front of all of the gathered guests. I replied, “Deb! You’re on the Outer Banks where going barefoot is looked upon very favorably. I’m surprised you didn’t get a standing ovation!”
So thanks to Debbie, Berit, Meagan, and Jean, there were actually elements in place at the appointed time when the two sets of parents joined Gage and Sarah on the platform to receive communion and pray together. A special moment, indeed.
Our wonderful live streaming guy, Rick, was on hand to be sure the ceremony was being broadcast on Facebook so that our distant friends and family (and many of you!) could participate. Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to him or me that the songs Sarah and Gage chose to be played for the different people to march in on would be flagged for copyright issues. Right as Sarah was poised at the beginning of her march (could there ever be a more important moment in a wedding?) Facebook shut down our live stream.
If there’s anything that would stress out a tech guy, that would be it. If you happened to be watching the live stream, please know that Rick went into hyper fix it mode as soon as he realized what was happening and did a heroic job of redoing something in the code so that he could get things back up and running by the time she got to the platform. (I will be posting the wedding in its entirety here soon.)
And then at the end of the ceremony, the CD glitched, so the couple and the bridal party didn’t have any recessional music. But, as it turned out, people were clapping and cheering so much, it wasn’t as noticeable as it might have been.
We had someone donate a limo service to take the bridal party from the ceremony/cake reception to the dinner reception which was about fifteen minutes away.
However, just before it was time to take off, the limo broke down. Happy day!
The limo wasn’t the only transportation challenge we had. After the cake reception, I had been running around doing a bunch of stuff and talking to a bunch of people. I finally got everything taken care of and dashed out of the building to get into my car.
But when I pushed the button to start the engine, it did not start. I pressed the button again the way you do when you think that pressing the same button twice will have more of an effect than pressing it just once.
Sighing, I opened my car door and, in my flouncy gown and high heels, took a small stroll around the parking lot before coming to the unhappy conclusion that I was totally and completely alone. (Even though the guys at the church were teasing Steve later about leaving his wife behind, we had never planned on driving over together because we were both running in different directions, talking to different people, etc. So he is off the hook!)
I propped up against my car and shook my head over the absurdity for a moment while trying to think of who I had loaned my keys to. (With so many family members in town, we had been doing a lot of vehicle swapping.)
I called my friend Carolyn, who was already at the reception, and explained my little predicament. Just like I knew she would, she got a good chuckle out of it and said she would pass the word along and have someone come get me. The youth pastor and his wife texted they were coming and then I got a message from Meagan saying she had used my keys last and they were in a particular spot upstairs.
I gathered up my skirts, kicked off my shoes, and went trotting through the upstairs looking for the keys. And of course, I finally located them just at the youth pastor pulled into the parking lot.
I never thought I would get so much aerobic exercise on Sarah and Gage’s wedding day!
A couple of days after the wedding, I was going up some stone steps into a thrift store when my toe caught the edge of a step and sent me flying face down onto the stone. I cracked my forehead and got a cut and raised a huge, bruised goose egg. I also got half a dozen bruises, cuts, and scrapes all up and down my legs and even managed to wrench my back a bit.
I realize things could have been so much worse: a broken nose, concussion, teeth knocked out, etc. so I’m thankful.
Shortly after that, I got my second COVID shot and that threw me for a loop for 36 hours: 103-degree temps, chills, fatigue, body aches.
As for today Sarah and Gage are heading to Duke for Sarah’s colonoscopy appointment tomorrow–all the while, Gage is nursing a very painful abscessed tooth which will need a root canal.
Unfortunately, it may take a while for that to happen.
Our dining room is still Wedding Day Central. We’re trying to sort through stuff, organize accoring to what we need to return or resell, get things returned that were loaned to us, etc. I’ll probably have it all cleaned up by Christmas.
Or not.
So, there you have it, the answer to that age-old question: “What could possibly go wrong?”
What about you? It would make me feel better if I could hear about some of your wedding week mishaps.
The “ups and downs” notwithstanding, this is one of the most inspirational blogs you have ever written! It must be true that “all’s well that ends well.”
Love, Fred & Lucy
Fred and Lucy,
Yes, it definitely ended well which made all the bumps in the road well more than worth it!
My goodness! You need a vacation!!
These mishaps made the day more memorable though and it reinforces that into every marriage, a mishap (or 12) will happen – or something like that 😉
I love reading your stories and can’t wait for more (and more pictures)!
Suzanne,
Yes, mishaps are sort of a part of life, aren’t they? Both in marriage and in life.
Thanks for letting me know you are enjoying the stories and pictures.
We were living in the metro Atlanta area and instead of a wedding we decide to elope to Chattanooga, TN. Our “what could possibly go wrong” moment would be me contracting pnuemonia and feeling so bad I did not even care about going to the jeweler with Tim to design my ring. I just told him I wanted curves/swirls and no big prongs. He did a wonderful job.
I’m glad you weren’t seriously injured in your fall. I can totally relate – I’ll try to attach a picture of me when I face-planted on our driveway – walking to my truck can be tricky. It would have taken a makeup artist extraordinaire to make that face presentable for a wedding.
It won’t let me attach a picture – it keeps saying page not found – so I’ll tag you on Facebook.
Sue Ellen
Unfortunately, this particular WordPress build I’m using will allow pictures be attached in comments. I would love to figure out a way because it would be fun for readers to be able to how photos.
Sue Ellen,
Good for Tim to designing your wedding ring all on his own!
I saw your photo on FB. Ouch, ouch, ouch! It’s crazy how one minute you can be walking along and the next minute (or half second) you can be face down on concrete. So thankful that neither of us was injured any worse.
Wow, in reading this wonderful posting and chuckling, all I could picture in my mind was Charlie Chaplin, Keystone Cops, (maybe Harold Lloyd too), and a film that is being run fast. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong and the things that didn’t – Praise the Lord. May you be able to put your feet up and close your eyes and relax and enjoy the wonderful memories.
Sharyn,
I really did feel like I was starring in my own Keystone Cops movie, running hither and fro in those high heels and gown! Good times.
Well, let’s just be grateful you got the goose egg AFTER the wedding, so the photographer didn’t have to try to edit THAT out. 🙂
Ellen,
So very, very true.
Not married myself so don’t have any stories to tell. I must have missed seeing that Kristin was sick. With 4 kids, I’m sure Meagan has to be somewhat organized so I’m sure that helped!
Sorry about your fall.
I started reading your post this morning before VBS and was almost late as I wanted to finish reading. Now there was a sort of mishap there. Our Big Kids minister and wife were expecting their 2nd child. She was due later this month and everyone was holding their breath that she wouldn’t go early. Well, Baby Girl didn’t cooperate and came on Tuesday, the second day of VBS! Thankfully the church staff had a backup plan already.
Phyllis,
Backup plans are a very good thing! Thankful for a safe (if slightly early) delivery.
Becky, sounds like you need a few days of down time. It was such a beautiful, special wedding but I just kept saying “oh, my gosh” as I read about all the challenges you faced. Keeping you all in my prayers for renewed good health.
Liz,
I kept telling myself that EVERY wedding (or any big event) has its mishaps. They make for good stories down the road.
Not one of the pictures reflects the stress behind the scenes – this is truly one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve ever seen! I have loved seeing your and Sarah’s pictures of the day.
And not a wedding, but meanwhile in KDH that day, I was in charge of First Flight’s first-ever prom off campus – at the Wright Brothers Memorial – and losing my own mind in the process! The rangers had a lot of questions and specifications leading up to the big day, our principal wanted me to arrange at least 3 food trucks, and we didn’t know if we could get even ONE tent, much less the two we were hoping for. Setup at the school that morning went pretty well, although the LED marble lights I’d purchased were warming up enough to pop some balloons, but things REALLY fell apart when we moved to the monument that afternoon. A 200-balloon garland that we’d painstakingly made that morning was loaded into several garbage bags, and when I saw a coworker putting it in the back of his truck, I said, “Those are balloons – I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He said, “Don’t worry, I’m tying them down.” You can guess what happened. The balloons flew off somewhere in the mile from campus to the monument. I was already panicking because we were severely understaffed (12 faculty members away at graduations & weddings that weekend, plus 7 teacher vacancies at the school) and several people had brought their young children for setup, which would have been perfectly okay if they were not kicking balloons, trying to grab my smoldering hot glue gun, etc. The wind wouldn’t die down so every time we placed a tablecloth on a table, it immediately flew away. I am good at organizing and planning but not a terribly artistic person, and I can’t tell you how many times that day someone asked “how do you want these tied/grouped/arranged/etc.?” and my answer was some sort of shrieky banshee “I HAVE NO IDEA AND WHATEVER YOU DO IS FINE.” My plan was to leave setup around 5:00 to go home, shower, and get ready, but I didn’t leave the monument until 6:05 to run home. I had to laugh at your description of getting ready because that is EXACTLY what I did!
In the end – there were so many little details that didn’t work out the way I had hoped, but no one could tell the difference, and it was the most beautiful prom I’ve ever seen. I am so happy that Sarah’s wedding was the day of her dreams even with the obstacles along the way!
Lauren,
What a treat to read your story; thanks for taking time to write it all down.
I was wincing and cringing my way through it because I could SO relate. The balloons floating away just did me in.
And the shrieky, banshee reply? Oh my. I would have been right there with you. I also not artistic and have NOTHING to say to anyone who asks me any questions in those categories.
I’m so glad that, in the end, it turned into the most beautiful prom you have ever seen. Good job on pulling together an off-site event with a limited staff. You are amazing!
The good news about wedding snafus is that the only person who knows what the bride envisioned is the bride.
The morning before my wedding, I got a call from one of my bridesmaid’s mother telling me that my bridesmaid had tried to have her hair highlighted the day before. This was something that she did all the time. Well THIS time, something went wrong, and she was in the hospital with chemical burns all over her nearly bald head, neck and face. Not only was she a bridesmaid, she was also a soloist. I met her mom and got her dress and shoes and right before the rehearsal dinner, we played Cinderella. Whoever could wear the dyed-to-match the dress shoes was the fill in. My new sister-in-law, who was only scheduled to sing, won the coveted spot. 😉 She left the dress and shoes in the dressing room at the church. The next morning as I was having my makeup done, I could hear whispers behind me. “Shhhh, don’t let her see it!” And “we can fix it” are not the sounds a bride wants to hear a few hours before her wedding. Alas, while the shoes fit perfectly, the dress was about 4 inches too big. My mother-in-law swooped in with safety pins and saved the day. It turned out beautiful even if she wasn’t listed in the program as a bridesmaid. She was able to sing her song and the song that the bridesmaid was scheduled to sing. Looking back, I am happy that she ended up in the wedding as we are close sisters now.
Lisa,
“Shhh. Don’t let her see it.” DEFINITELY not words for a bride to hear whispered on her wedding day. 🙂
And how amazing was your new sister-in-law to step in as a bridesmaid AND learn a new song to sing at the last minute? And even better that the two of you have grown so close through the years.
I’m sad your original bridesmaid had such a traumatic thing happen to her and then had to miss the wedding but so glad you were able to come up with a Plan B. Wedding complexities . . .
Not married myself, but the worst/saddest wedding mishap I can recall is when a close friend of mine got married, her cake baker’s son tragically died a day or two before the wedding. I remember it being harder on the mother of the bride than the bride herself, who simply shrugged and said “well, if there’s not going to be a cake, let’s go to the grocery store and get some tubs of ice cream, and we’ll have an ice cream sundae bar instead.” And that’s what they did!
I hope you are feeling better after that fall! It sounds like you and Steve could use your own vacation getaway to relax after the craziness of the past few months! Prayers for both Sarah and Gage on their procedures and continued settling into newlywed life.
Linnae,
I love that bride’s attitude. Can’t have cake? Let’s have ice cream! That’s the way to handle a last-minute setback.
Yes, a little getaway vacation for Steve and I would be lovely indeed. Or if we can’t do that, I just need a period of a few hours where I don’t think about anything important. Ahhh!
Becky, I got exhausted for you reading about all you did on and before Friday night. Then came Saturday and the (once more exhausting) early morning glitches. But I must say that the programs were worth going through what you do. They were amazing! The scripture above the picture of them dancing down the lane was so apt for the two of them, I shed several tears again.
Once again I see a lot of help coming from loving (if barefoot) family and friends. So happy for all of you to have all the backup people you do!
Still exhausted about all you had to do, so I’m going to take a nap now.
Jan,
Yep. Our friends and families don’t even need to put shoes on to be helpful! They just git ‘er done!
Take a nap for me while you’re at it.
I’ve been married twice ( to the same husband 😊), and we only had a tiny and very informal first wedding … and just slightly more the second time . I don’t think we had any mishaps … over 50 years ago .
Despite the mishaps, it all went well . Beautiful program ( I hate printers . Lol ) …
I still find it hard to believe that the “ little Sarah “ that you wrote about so poignantly about during her transplant is now a married young lady . God bless all !
Dee,
I guess after 50 years, any mishaps that happened would sort of fade away. That’s the nice thing about time–it erases some of those things we’d rather forget.
And congrats on fifty years!
Oh Becky! Wow. You have quite a story! Those of us who looked at pictures and/or watched the livestream only saw great beauty and none of the challenges!
We had a wedding mishap that really seems insignificant now, but it sure was a big deal at the time. We took pictures ahead of time. The flowers had not yet been delivered, so we started without them. That was kind of a bummer. When the flowers did get delivered, they were not what we had ordered! My bouquet was completely different than what we asked for—it was as if they didn’t even look at the order sheet. For my head we had ordered a garland with ribbons (one thing I’d change for sure…I would have a veil if I had it to do over again!). The garland was passable but the ribbons were tiny 1/8″ ribbons that looked rather silly–the proportions weren’t right.
My dad told the florist of the problem and they went back and made me a new bouquet. Everything else we had to keep. So in our wedding photos you can see that I had two different bouquets. 🙂
Really not a huge deal, but it seemed so at the time…38 years ago this month!
I’m exhausted just reading all this! Toothaches are the absolute worst pain in my opinion. So sorry Gage has to wait for relief! My reaction from my Covid shots were no fun either – much empathy. I hope you take some time to just rest and breathe! Prayers up for Sarah’s colonoscopy.
wow…almost beyond belief!
Wow Becky, its mind boggling all that has gone on. I’ve always been of the thought that if a wedding day goes perfectly then there is nothing interesting or fun to remember. Well I think this is just taking it a bit too far haha. You all will be talking about it for years and decades to come. Thankfully Sarah got happily married. I’m hoping things do settle down soon for you, one can only run on adrenaline for so long. I hope you are beginning to feel a bit better from your fall. Our whole family had the fever, chills extravaganza from the vaccine second dose as well, 36 hours of it. I’m so glad we had it though after spending 10 hours yesterday in the ER with all the sickies. Fingers crossed we remain covid free the next 2 weeks.
I read through this going from giggles to cringes to SCREAMS as it all got worse and worse through a snowballing onslaught of dress malfunctions, falls, bumps, cracks, wounds, toes and tears, and when I got to – “The printer went merrily along for about forty copies and then …..” !! I had my head on the desk banging it right along with you. Printers! Don’t they just always conspire to rattle happily along, lulling nervous you into thinking ‘it’s all going to be ok. What a good printer it is being today.” ..and THEN they grind to a halt, chortling wickedly, outwitting every clever fix you desperately come up with and 40 vital copies still to do? I once read about printers, “THEY SMELL FEAR, you know” and how true is that?
What a triumph that despite all the glitches, it was such a gorgeous and glorious and moving occasion. No one would have guessed at any glitches from the beauty and the serenity we saw unfold at (soon after!) 1.43 and Sarah… the love and beauty in her face outshines everything.
Our own daughter’s wedding, the day after yours, had its share of hitches in the lead-up (for some reason, bride and I found ourselves doing a full-on, five-hour tour of the Cotswolds, up hill and down narrow twisty dale with ONE day to go, desperately seeking last-minute replacements for things that had Gone Wrong) but the day itself was beautiful, except for a) torrential rain that started at THE VERY MOMENT the ceremony was over and we were due outside for photographs – the downpour did not let up for the entire afternoon, so all our photographs were indoors, wasting the beautiful grounds of our venue – we did try the Confetti Arch outside but this just resulted in handfuls of sad wet confetti and a bucketful of rain blowing right back in everyone’s faces due to the howling gale, and people genteelly grumbling as they sensed they had the Worst and Wettest Spot, and b) (sadder) the Master of Ceremonies messed up our music, which was rather devastating, as we worked literally HOURS on getting it right and making it easy for him to press his ONE BUTTON. So the perfect and meaningful pieces of music picked to enhance various parts of the ceremony were replaced with … silence.
I’ve gone on so long I won’t mention our Cake Wars but suffice it to say we did also have a little contretemps re the Wedding Cake – by a series of accidents we found we had TWO cake-makers each thinking they were the ONE – which nearly resulted in Lemon Drizzles hurled at Dawn… Arrgh!
Congratulations to Sarah and Gage! So happy to hear that despite the challenges, they are beginning their new life together. I am not married, so I have no wedding week stories from my own wedding, but I’ll share a few of the ones we tell often in our family.
1. A friend’s wedding took place at Yosemite National Park. Without getting into too many details, I’ll just say that the location of the ceremony changed slightly the day before the wedding. The officiating pastor did not get the memo, went to the wrong location, and missed the entire ceremony. The bride’s Aunt ended up officiating after we couldn’t find the pastor.
2. My parents got married at a church that had a small bridal party preparation room. There was a wedding immediately before theirs, and when the previous party cleared out the bridal room after their wedding, they mistakenly took my mom’s wedding dress with them. Time came for her to change into her dress, and it was nowhere to be found. She and my dad decided they would just get married in jeans and tshirts, but a friend saved the day by tracking down the other wedding party’s reception and finding my mom’s wedding dress.
Everyone needs a few wedding week stories, and I hope you are able to look back and laugh at the hiccups of a lovely day.
Oh my goodness…..how you managed to stay sane is beyond me! I’m so thankful that out of the three of you, no one was seriously injured. And that your fall wasn’t BEFORE the wedding. That would have made for interesting pictures. The program is beautiful….nice work!!
When I got married, my groom had a cast and crutches. He broke his ankle (requiring surgery, a plate, screws and a bolt) one week before the wedding. He managed to prove to the PT dept at the hospital that he could maneuver crutches on stairs so they discharged him on Tuesday. WITHOUT any pain killing meds. “Nothing stronger than aspirin” per doctor’s orders. We’ll never figure out the reasoning behind that one.
Anyway, we got married. Him on crutches and in a wheelchair. I drove the car and carried the luggage. We can laugh about it now and I have the staples and hospital wrist band in our wedding book. LOL
We got off to a rough start but that was 40 years ago!
My wedding was quite a low key affair. I may be forgetting things in the excitement of the day, but the mishap I remember was at the reception. We had food stations of different foods all around the reception area. Delicious catered foods. Of the delicious selections I had one stuffed mushroom. I only know this because there is a photo of me eating said mushroom. I was so busy greeting people and enjoying the moment I just didn’t have time. I missed all our good food and cake (we didn’t have a cake cutting ceremony). Back in the early 70’s there was a song, “Saturday Morning Confusion…” which we changed to Saturday Wedding confusion for my cousins wedding where much went wrong.