Three weeks ago, D and I got married. And it was all those things it's supposed to be - wonderful, magical, special, absolutely perfect. And it really did feel like all of those things, especially the last one. But the funny thing is, there were many minor (and a few major) mishaps along the way - especially within the last 24 hours of the wedding and at the wedding itself. And somehow, all those things going wrong actually made the experience more wonderful than I could have planned it. So, just for fun, I thought I'd share some of these mishaps and how they helped to enhance the entire wedding experience...
To set the scene, the wedding was on Sunday, January 10th at 1:00 p.m. in West Virginia. For the last bajillion years (give or take a year or two), West Virginia has experienced pretty mild winters. Of course, this winter was completely different. With between 80-90 guests coming from out-of-town (NJ, NY, PA, VA, NC, TN, GA, IL, and Scotland), it was a bit disturbing to have the entire week preceding the wedding filled with snow. And more snow. And even more snow... Which brings us to approximately 8:30 p.m. on Friday evening.
THE MISSING BRIDESMAID
The rehearsal was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Saturday. The wedding party was due to arrive on Friday. About 12 hours before the rehearsal, Whitney, one of my bridesmaids, called from Chicago. Her plane was due in to Pittsburgh around 10:30 that night, but her mother wasn't able to make it there to pick her up that night because of the snow. So Whitney spent the night in Pittsburgh and missed the rehearsal.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
This was a bit unsettling at first, not only because she was the first to walk down the aisle, but also because I was just really excited to see her. However, it did all work out. We (all the girls) went to the clubhouse about an hour and a half before the ceremony to get ready, and we did a quick run-through. This, of course, resulted in us being silly about it, and some of my favorite pictures from the day are of us spinning and twirling around to the recessional song. So, if Whitney had been able to make it, then we would have missed out on the fun picture opportunity. And the much needed stress-relief of twirling.
WHO NEEDS PROCESSIONAL MUSIC?
9:00 AM Saturday rolls around. We go to run through the rehearsal, and find that the CD we had burned with our processional song (a piano version of "I Can't Help Falling In Love") wouldn't play on my old CD player. To add to the situation, we hadn't practiced with the timing of the song before, and wasn't even sure it would work since it's a bit "untraditional." So we rehearsed without music, using my sister's handy watch to time entrances and pacing.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
We ended up putting the music on the computer and just playing it from the laptop (much thanks to D's brother's girlfriend, who ran the music for us... as we had no one else to do it). The experience of walking down the aisle to that song for the very first time, seeing my soon-to-be-husband looking handsome in his tux, and seeing his bright smile as I walked towards him, will forever be one of my favorites.
LET THEM EAT CAKE
D's cousin Risa makes awesome cakes. So, of course, we asked her to make our wedding cake. And then... the snow hit. So approximately 24 hours before the wedding, we found out that Risa wouldn't be able to make the trip down from Buffalo because of the weather. Thus, we had no cake.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
Fortunately, we had cupcakes that were meant to feed the majority of the people. We really just wanted a small cake upon which to put our cake topper and to cut for the traditional cake-cutting. D's mom offered to run around that afternoon and try to find us a cake, but I told her I'd try to find something first. Cate, my bridesmaid from Scotland, and I love cake. Our friendship was founded upon our mutual love of sweets. And since she had been in Scotland, we didn't get to do any traditional bride/bridesmaid things together. So, we went cake-tasting. I found a small bakery listed in the phone book that specialized in last minute orders, and it was only about 10 minutes from my house. We popped over and told the woman the situation. She had a slice of cake sitting in the fridge, and she pulled it out for us to taste. She also handed us a bunch of cookies to taste, just for fun. While we flipped through picture books, she - her name was Marianne - told us all about how she got started with the bakery. Originally from New York City, she had no formal training but just loved to cook. We found some pictures we liked, and then started talking price. I told her I just wanted a one-tier 8-inch cake. She insisted that it wouldn't be a wedding cake if it was only one-tier, so she was going to add a 6-inch top for free! I showed her the picture that I wanted, and she said she'd have it ready by 6:00 that night! So, even though we didn't get the cake we had originally planned, we still got a great-tasting, absolutely adorable cake for less than $50. In addition, I got to spend some quality time cake-tasting with Cate:-)
The rest of Saturday was spent with a bridal shower, an evening at the martini bar with friends. D and some of his friends left a little early that night because we were supposed to have access to the reception venue that night; however, it was accidentally locked. And at midnight, it was too late to call the caterer to get the keys. So after a restless night, I woke up the next morning unsure if we'd even have access to the reception venue that morning - which was quite essential for set-up. Fortunately, the caterer opened it around 8:30 that morning, so at 9am I went over to decorate for the reception, with the help of my bridesmaids, my father, and D's family. (D was on task of decorating the ceremony venue with some of our friends). Everything was going fine, until we realized...
NO CENTERPIECES
We had originally planned to have our own centerpieces. I even bought 12 snowflake floating candles. But after discussion of purchasing 12 vases, we decided to go with the caterer's decor that was included in the cost (a single white candle in the middle of the table - we're simple). But Sunday morning, we discovered that somehow the message had been lost that we wanted the caterer's centerpieces. So I had the 12 candles, but nothing to put them in.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
My friend Alexis had offered to come over and help decorate that morning. Upon hearing of the dilemma, she ran off to the store to find vases to hold the centerpieces. I had to leave before she got back, but when I got the reception later that afternoon, each table had a beautiful vase complete with snowflake floating candles. They were absolutely gorgeous, and it was fun to be surprised!
So now let's flash forward a few hours. My mom did my hair, D arranged a surprise limo to pick me up at my house (along with my bridesmaids & nephews), and we arrived at the Clubhouse with an hour and a half to spare. (On a random note, I've always thought limos were a bit "over the top," but this surprise was perfect. Before it arrived, I was starting to get tense and nervous. Once we all piled in, the atmosphere was so perfect and fun that I was able to relax and really begin to enjoy the day! It was a great surprise:-) At the Clubhouse, we did a practice processional with Whitney, and then began to get ready. Everything is going smoothly. Everyone is dressed. Even the flowergirl and ringbearer are ready to go. It's 12:55. My dress is laced, my veil is in my place, my make-up is done, and now all I need is... my shoes.
SHOELESS JOE FROM HANIBAL, MO
My beautiful silver shoes that I was absolutely in love with were... nowhere to be found. They had been left back at my parents' house, a good 20 minutes away. My mom offered to go get them, with five minutes before the wedding was supposed to start. I initially said yes, until my ever-so-smart sister reminded me that I had always wanted to get married barefoot.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
As I walked down the aisle, D noticed the lack of shoes (he had already seen the pretty silver ones before, so he was expecting those). Afterwards, he told me that it made him really happy that I had married him while barefoot. Throughout the entire planning process, he kept saying he wanted to give me the wedding "of my dreams." I had always dreamed of an outdoor, barefoot wedding. Okay, in the winter we couldn't manage the outdoors, but a simple act of forgetfulness turned into a really special detail about the whole day. I got to surprise my groom, and fulfill the wish of getting married barefoot (and, of course, wear my awesome silver shoes at the reception!)
CAN I HAVE THE RINGS?
The processional has started. Whitney is walking down the aisle. The rest of us are lined up outside, barefoot and freezing. Cate goes down the aisle. Right before my sister, the matron-of-honor, begins to walk, we realize a huge error: we had left D's ring in the dressing room.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
Erin goes down the aisle. I send my dad running downstairs to find the ring (or, hobbling a bit - he broke his ankle last year and is still recovering). This leaves me, Joel (my five year nephew who is the ring bearer), and Violet (the five year old daughter of some friends). Joel goes down the aisle, and it's just me and Violet standing out there in the cold. I help her out of her coat and then tell her when to go. There was some trepidation on my part - we all had some fear she'd get nervous and wouldn't make it. So I peeked in the glass doors behind her and watched as she began her way down the aisle. There's a fantastic picture of Violet tossing her "snowflake" petals onto the floor while I peek through the glass to watch. And then it was just me. And this moment alone, in the cold, barefoot, and about to walk down the aisle to see my groom, was priceless. It was a great moment to "center" and get ready for what I was about to do. And then, my dad came up the stairs with the ring in hand, to the rescue! I put D's ring on my thumb and took my dad's arm, and we walked down the aisle together. Upon reaching the front and turning to hand the bouquet to my sister, I took a few extra seconds to pry D's ring off my thumb and "discreetly" pass it along to Erin. Hopefully, none of this was too obvious!
And off to the reception...
RIBBONS
One of my favorite parts of my dress were the long white satin ribbons that laced up the back and hung down to the floor. These were a last-minute touch, and I loved them. But not enough to make sure that I didn't get them stuck in the car door on the way over to the reception. So we arrive at the reception, and I go to step out of the car, when we realize that about a foot of the ribbons had been stuck in the door and were now covered in mud.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
My friend Mike, who is an old "pirate" friend from camp (and also our wedding photographer) was in the car next to us when we parked. He pulled out a pocket knife and cut off the muddy ends of the ribbon - and brought just enough pirativity to the wedding in that one simple act. No one was any wiser, even if the ribbons were just a little bit shorter:-)
NO DJ? (No, not THAT DJ)
D's friend Marc was supposed to do out music, but due to all the snow, he couldn't make it down from Rochester, NY. So when we got to the reception, we didn't know how we were going to be "announced." We had set up the music so you could just hit "play" on the computer playlist, but we really wanted to announce the bridal party...
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
D's friend Josh, a good college friend, stepped into the role of MC and did a fantastic job. In addition to correctly pronouncing everyone's names, he also went above and beyond and recognized our parents (and gave special props to my mom for making the dress). He really did a phenomenal job, especially last-minute, and I'm incredibly thankful to him!
Okay, then we had an issue with the speakers not working correctly... and I don't really have a good way that worked out, but hey, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter at the end of the day:-) We were married, most of our friends & family were able to attend, and it was a great day. We danced, we ate, we ate cake, and we took a lot of pictures. We had some toasts - 2 out of the 4 of which were awesome. My one regret is that we didn't get a chance to go around and talk to everyone who was there; it was a very short reception (our pictures took a little longer than we planned for), and a lot of people had to leave early anyway. But I'm hoping that all the people we didn't get to talk to and thank for coming will hopefully understand! It was a fantastic day, even with all these mishaps, and I am so thrilled that everyone was able to make it, that we had all of these little mishaps go wrong to make the day truly perfect, and most importantly - that we're married:-)
There is, of course, one more last litle mishap...
THE BOUQUET TOSS
You see, there was a chandalier. And it was hanging low. And we had joked about me hitting it with the bouquet. And I was positive I wouldn't. And then... I did. And some of the "crystals" hanging down off the chandalier fell to the ground in a very dramatic fashion.
HOW IT BECAME AWESOME
The good news - the crystals were plastic. The caterer said it happened all the time. So I didn't have to pay any fees or anything like that (which I was a bit nervous about). And I was a bit embarrassed about it for a few minutes. But then it just became funny. And it became even more hilarious after getting some pictures back of that exact moment when the bouquet actually hit the chandalier - of the ten or so women lined up to catch the bouquet, nine of them have their hands up to their face with shocked expressions as they watch the crystals fall to the ground... and then there's one, D's cousin Justine, who is almost maniacally diving after the bouquet to catch it, even though no one else is even focused on the flowers at this point. It's pretty fantastic, and I'm pretty sure it will forever be one of my favorite photos from the day.
Before the wedding, D and I had joked about all the things that would go wrong. While we were incorrect in our actual guesses, we were right about one thing - the wedding wouldn't have been the same if it had been seamless and without mishaps. After all, our romance is the story of a series of mishaps that fell into place to make a wonderful, (almost) perfect love.
