7 years and counting

Today is my seven-year wedding anniversary. Seven years ago today there were storms throughout Oklahoma City that caused mayhem on my husband's and my special day. To this day my wedding planner, who everyone said reminded them of Franc, from 'Father of the Bride', introduces me like such, "Oh! This is the girl I told you about! She's my wedding from hell! My Murphy's Law wedding...if anything were to go wrong at any wedding-it all happened at hers!"

I can promise you that is no exaggeration! Let me give you a quick bullet list. Prior to the storms causing havoc....a a few things leading up to it went a little haywire.

Leading up to the wedding:

**My matron of honor got pregnant and ballooned up just large enough that she couldn't fit into her bridesmaid's dress. She was under 5 feet tall and a size two. The dress was already ordered and fitted! Now, where was I going to find someone that size, who I liked enough to be in my wedding?

**The man, who was supposed to fly in to do my service and who also dedicated me as a baby, passed away a few weeks before the wedding date. He was a very special friend to my family and close to our hearts. Not anyone could take his place and marry me!

The weekend of the wedding Oklahoma had record thunderstorms that had power knocked out over two-thirds of the city's power. Power lines were down, trees got thrashed around and blocked a lot of roads, and the city was mayhem.

The night before the wedding:

**The reception hall canceled due to a power outage, and they didn't have a generator to back them up. I had no reception hall!

The day of the wedding:
(get ready)

**The caterer's dad died, and she had to leave immediately. She left her part-time high school students in charge of my wedding, which served over 500 people.

**The bakery tried delivering to the reception hall, who was closed and didn't know where to deliver the cakes so they went missing.

**The limo company went out of business and stood me up at my home to shuttle me to the church, which meant we'd have no limo from the wedding.

**The hairdresser called to say she had no power so we couldn't do me or any of my bridesmaid's hair/makeup.

There were multiple other little mishaps that happened, but I don't need to list everything. I think you all get the idea of how crazy this day was, and how hard my wedding planner worked. I think he even raised his wedding rates after my wedding. He said he didn't charge us enough for all he did that day...of course he kids....but I'm sure he's right.

The solutions to all that ailed me:

One of my friends, Sherri, from high school was helping me plan our 10-year high school reunion. She and I became close through the reunion's planning, and she fit in the bridesmaid's dress perfectly. It was a God-send that the dress seemed tailored to fit her. ONE MIRACLE DOWN.....MANY TO GO...

A family friend, who worked with me in sales, happened to be an ordained pastor. He heard of my dilemma and offered his services. He was a perfect solution, as he is still near and dear to my heart. If anyone could come close to being as good as the original man, that was supposed to marry me, HE COULD.

The high school part-time caterers did a wonderful job. Things went off without a hitch. I never heard a complaint, so I assumed all was well.

The church, I was married in, offered us their banquet hall. They had a backup generator and their banquet hall could easily seat 500 people. My wedding planner, realizing we had no cakes, tracked down the bakery and told them to get their booty down to the church. They arrived just as the service was ending. No one would have guessed that they were lost.

The miracle of all miracles, my house was one of a few places that had power. I spent the night there with my sister. I had all the bridesmaids come to my house to get ready. When the hairdresser called to cancel, I asked her to come to my house to do the job. She set up shop in my bedroom and did our hair in my full-length mirror. She loaded all the bridesmaids in her mustang and shuttled them to the church. My mother came in her car, to help me get me and my dress shuttled safely to the church as well.

Through it all, I didn't freak or have any nerves. I was at peace through the whole thing. If I were one to believe in signs, it would have all scared me off. But I knew this man was the man I was meant to marry. As I walked down the aisle, I looked into my soul mate's teary eyes. I felt so grateful to be exactly where I was. So much so that when little things, like the candles falling out ... over and over, all I could do was laugh. After all that had happened, a few little quirks was not going to scare me. I had my man and that's all that mattered.

To this day I am more in love with him, than I was then. It's amazing how you can't put boundaries or limits on love. Each day I find more depth in love and am so thankful I have my husband and family!

PS...to this day my husband's ring has a little dent in it, from where my sister, who'd forgotten his band, hurried back to the wedding procession just in time before she was to walk down the aisle. As she was running, the ring flew off her finger and bounced down the tile hall, barely missing the floor air vents! Whew...you knew she was sweating that one!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Happy Anniversary! What an incredible and crazy day you had. Your faith through it all is inspiring, as always!
Rebecca said…
Wow!!!! I'm so glad that everything worked out & you had a wonderful wedding day and more importantly that you didn't freak and have a wonderful husband and marriage. Twenty minutes before my ceremony started the cake collapsed, still edible but not presentable. My parents ended up getting a false one from a local store with a real top layer for us to cut. When I found out what happened I was more concerned if there were photos of the fallen cake then having a fake one - glad to have that rather than nothing.

Have you seen a Dr. Phil where the wives go on crying about how their wedding was doomed because of a little thing like rain? Ha! I've heard that rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck. If I believed in any of that I'd say you got real lucky! I hope you had a wonderful anniversary. Cheers!

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