Published on March 16th, 2008.
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My "perfect" wedding day consisted of rain, fainting, a non-functioning hotel key, wedding music that won't play, and couple of other special surprises that really added "flavor" to our day!
When It Rains, It Pours….Literally
The ring was on my finger, the date was set. It was going to be the wedding I had dreamed of since I had reached adolescence – toes in the sand, 40 or 50 close friends and family, sun shining down, lighting our faces with its rays as we say our vows. Well, the 40 or 50 close friends and family part came true…
The “one week till Go Time” mark approached. I was feeling calm and collected knowing that the details were in place and all I had to do was show up in my gown. Then, the Wednesday before Saturday’s main event, I get an email. The pastor, for whom we have arranged flights, hotels, and a car, has a kidney stone and may not be able to make it. Okay, I think, I’m bummed, but this is not the end of the world (or the wedding). So, the next night after work, I am set to fly out from Nashville to Atlanta, where I’d meet up with my sister and brother-in-law, then fly on to Pensacola, FL. The voyage begins smoothly. Nice landing in Atlanta, I’m feeling good. Then, the next flight gets delayed….and delayed….and, you get the picture. This puts us arriving into Pensacola, FL after 1am. But, family of troopers that we are, we suck it up and go with the flow.
Friday, the day before the wedding, was a lovely one spent getting manicures and pedicures with my sister, playing in the waves with friends and family, and relaxing. Evening falls and the time comes to go to the rehearsal dinner at one of the ritziest restaurants in Orange Beach. Well, the four course meal ends up being a four-hour meal with approximately one hour between each course! But, speeches were given, glasses were clinked, and a good, but tiring, time was had by all.
Now, I’d like to say that after all of this turmoil, I awoke Saturday morning to the sunlight streaming in my window and the sound of waves and seagulls. But, that would be a lie, seeing as how the sun decided to take its vacation during our vacation. Apparently, Florida has approximately two times a year where the rain comes and then kicks up its feet and stays a while….You see, in planning a beach wedding we were well aware that rain was a possibility. But we were assured by everyone – local residents, the wedding planner, my manicurist – that it typically only rained for about 30 minutes and moved right on through. “So”, my wedding planner said, when I asked her what the back-up plan was, “we wait it out. I’ve never had to move a wedding indoors yet and this one won’t be any different.”
The wedding is set to begin at 6:30. At 5:30, the thunder and lighting come out to play. Someone brings me a glass of wine and I repeat to myself the wedding planner’s words over and over…” I’ve never had to move a wedding indoors yet and this one won’t be any different.” At 6pm, I stand alone in front of the back window of our condo watching the rain and crying – just a little. I tell myself that no matter what, I will marry my soul mate in my beautiful gown. Well, the guests arrive and….we wait. And wait. At 7:30, the wedding planner asks me what I would like to do – have the wedding the next day, keep waiting, move indoors – and I tell her that I simply can’t make the decision. My head is too busy swimming as I face the realization that I may not get married on the beach after all. Those little girl fantasies acted out in my backyard as a kid just may not happen exactly how I imagined. So, the wedding planner makes an executive decision and announces that we are moving everything inside.
Well, short story short, the ceremony went just fine. My groom and I stood on a beach towel in the wet grass outside of the condo, while all of our guests sat in chairs tightly clustered under the back awning. Vows were said, a kiss was shared, and then it was off to the reception (which had also been moved indoors to the clubhouse of the condo).
The reception room looked lovely, albeit crowded, and the music came on to play our first dance. We’re swaying happily for about 30 seconds when the cd jumps to the next song, a really fast, drum-heavy disco number. We kind of laugh it off and try again, but our song does the same thing, so we just give it up and begin to mingle. It turns out that all of the music had gotten damaged in the rain, somewhere during the short time in which everything got set up on the beach, then the rain came, and then everything got moved indoors. So, each song got about 10-15 seconds of playtime and then jumped to the next. My sweet family tried to make the best of it, gyrating briefly, whether slowly or quickly, to the beat of that song, and then adjusting their movements for the next little “sound byte”. It was funny to watch, yes, but a far cry from the image I’d had of all of us dancing the night away together, arms in the air, worries out the door.
The end of the night rolls around and my new husband and I head off in our limo to the hotel. We didn’t get in a wreck on the way, so I thought maybe our luck was changing for the better. We run arm-in-arm into the hotel lobby, gleefully ask for our key, and then head upstairs. Well wouldn’t you know, the room key didn’t work! Because at the end of all that wedding chaos, why would we expect that simple thing to go right? We shove the key into the slot forcefully every direction it will go (and even some it won’t) and then we sigh and accept this next mishap. My preciously frustrated husband went back downstairs for the right key, and we unlocked the door and stepped into our future as husband and wife. Yes, I’m ending here, because really, you know what happens next. And in case you're wondering, there were no crazy mishaps there!
The End
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