I’d like to say right away that our wedding was really beautiful. We had several ladies that my husband worked with at the time telling us it was one of the most beautiful weddings they’d ever attended. Why, yes I AM tooting my own horn! Thanks for joining me! That being said, the day was really one near-miss after another and we barely made it out alive. I’m mostly kidding, but still.
Since I had made a deal with God about my late-June wedding (no rain, no spiking temps) I went ahead and made arrangements for our small wedding to take place on the home’s front porch. Oh, and the reception was going to be outside, too. On an uncovered patio. Zero potential for problems, right? And no, I had no backup plan. Whatsoever.
My amazing bridesmaids and I the morning of the wedding
My
wonderful bridesmaids and I headed out to the B&B that morning to set up
tables, centerpieces, chairs, aisle runner, you name it, we did it. Looking
back I really think there should have been groomsmen there doing a lot of this
work but somehow that didn’t happen. What the heck were they doing, anyway?
Hmm. Might need to ask the hubby about that…
Anyway,
our wedding was scheduled for mid-afternoon and at around 11:00 am it started
raining. Not a real Nebraska rain, just enough to make a 21-year-old who is
getting married outside that afternoon want to throw up. It stopped very
quickly and we all breathed a sigh of relief and headed inside to get ready for
the big event.
A real friend is someone who will tweeze your upper lip for you. Seriously. She's the best.
When
we got up to the room set aside for our use we realized it was quite warm. We
knew the air conditioner was on because we had felt the refreshing air on our
way in, but figured the circulation up to that room just must be poor. It was
an older building, after all. (By the way, we realized about 20 minutes before
the wedding started that the air conditioner vent was closed. Yeah, we were up
there sweating for a couple of hours getting ready for a wedding and none of us
thought to check that. Curse curse curse.)
Just sittin' there sweatin' on my wedding day. Ya know.
Shortly
after I started getting my hair and makeup done, my dad came in to ask me if I
had signed a contract with the owner of the B&B. Apparently, the cost per
plate for the reception that we had agreed upon no longer seemed fair to her
and she wanted to raise it by $2/plate. Side note: we paid about $6,000 for our
wedding. Total. Including dress, flowers, photographer, everything. So adding
on even another $400 or so would have blown
our budget.
I
think my dad saw the panic in my eyes when I nearly shouted at him, “Grab my
green notebook! All of the paperwork is in that green notebook! I’ve got all
the paperwork! It’s only supposed to be $10 a head! I HAVE TO PUT MY FREAKING
WEDDING DRESS ON NOW AND SHE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THE PRICE???!!!” Anyway, Dad
took care of it. : )
As
go time approached and guests started to arrive, the temperature steadily rose
to a high of about 90 degrees. So much for our deal.
Finally
it was time. My bridesmaids did their stroll down the aisle with their
groomsmen and now it was my turn. The door opened, the music started and—wait.
That’s not the music I wanted! Where’s January Rain? That’s what’s supposed to
be playing when I walk down the aisle! I didn’t realize until later that I had
neglected to give the DJ the CD with the processional music on it. So my
attendants didn’t walk down to Willoughby by Over the Rhine as I had always
dreamed. Ah, well. You win some, you lose some.
On
my way down the aisle I got over the music change just in time to realize I
could barely see through my veil. Like seriously couldn’t see. I basically
stumbled through the ceremony (it might have been worse in my head). Also, it
was really hot under there. To my everlasting
amusement, I discovered later that my veil had been pinned. on. backwards.
Boom. Score another one for the wedding sabotage gods.
I
made it through the ceremony without passing out and we strolled back down the
aisle with Michael BublĂ© playing Come FlyWith Me. Landon was in charge of that CD and I’m eternally grateful to him.
: ) Take THAT, sabotage gods.
A peek at the little table we had set up at the front during the ceremony. We had our candles sheltered since it was outside, and we served one another communion during one of the songs.
Landon's uncle (who married us) had the idea to present each of our parents with a red rose during the ceremony. We thought it was a really neat way to honor them.
Our super clever and super time-consuming guest book that hardly anyone signed
Our equally time-consuming programs, which hardly anyone received
Oh yeah, and there was breakdancing!
We served petit fours as a non-traditional twist for our wedding cake and they were delicious! Thanks, Mom!
But
in the end the main goal was accomplished. We got hitched. We were married. The
vows had been said, Communion was taken and the garter had been removed from my
leg with his teeth. And all the groomsmen danced to YMCA. Yep, it was a real
wedding from A to Z and by the end I was so happy to call Landon my very own
Old Man.
To be fair, this was NOT the guy who almost lit a tree on fire. I just really like this picture : )
What a great wedding story! Thanks for sharing:) Love your witty writing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Hannah :) It was fun to relive it through the non-stressful distance of eight years!
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