[honeychile]

Originally Posted by 33girl

Some crazy heifer named Amal knocked me down, stole my dress and went to the wedding in my place. So annoying.

How am I just seeing this now? Oh! Maybe because of the memories this thread invoke!

Actually "honeychile gets married, part deux" isn't nearly as bad. Please remember that I was in the process of moving from Pittsburgh to Chicago during this time!

-After proof reading the invitations at least four times (by both Jim and me), we managed to omit the time. He emailed everyone that, "Like our love, our invitations are timeless. The Service will be at 2pm." Crisis avoided.

-Two days before the wedding, my MOH & I got locked inside the church, with no cars left for us. We decorated our little hearts out, not realizing that the heat was programmed to 50 degrees after 4:30p (it was December) until we became numb. We could not get to the phone, and our cellphones needed to be charged. THANK HEAVENS that Jim was driving by the church, and wondered why the lights were still on!

-At this point, I still did not know if my brother - my one relative who even considered attending! - was coming into town or not. When I got back to the hotel after the Rehearsal Dinner, I had a voicemail that he was in the hotel, and that he had found a wonderful climbing wall facility, and he would meet me at the church. As Big Brother was once an internationally known rock climber, Climbing Wall obviously trumped Baby Sister's wedding.

-My MIL was sick in the hospital but was to be sprung for the wedding. I found out that she would not be permitted to leave the hospital at 9am on the morning of the wedding. The wedding was at 2pm, but never fear! Both my DH & pastor think it would be wonderful if we went to the hospital prior to the wedding, and have a sort of mini-service!

-The next hour is spent cancelling appointments (massage, nails, hair), and trying to make myself presentable. I was in my wedding dress, veil, gorgeous coat, and sneakers! Other supplies are in the back of the car.

-I only got lost once on the way to the church!

-We got to the hospital, and MIL is wearing black. Head to toe black. I have a cousin who got married in the 1960s, and my mother wore a very classic black and white dress. She did not speak to my mother for over 30 years! I decide to cut MIL a break - happily ever after could be a long time. She never once cracked a smile.

-Back at the church, I realized that the Spanx/pseudo-Spanx I was wearing (to maintain dignity with my dress) does not allow one to use the little bride's room. The little bride's room is also used for the toddler class, so the facilities are very, very low. I basically had to get nekkid and do the limbo to use the facilities prior to that long walk down the aisle.

-The bridesmaids swarmed around me much like you see the Peanuts characters do the Christmas Tree in Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown. My veil, which was to ride very low, ended up perched at the top of my head. My hair was smushed down. A lot. I was trying to fix my makeup when one of the deaconesses popped in and said, "the music is starting!" We literally ran to the sanctuary!

-There were only two hitches to the service: 1) We used The Cord of Three Strands ceremony, but forgot to have something to tie off the braid. One of the photographers graciously donated elastic band from her hair for the cause! and b) I could not stop crying. Not loud, crazy tears, but "I wanted to have my parents here!" tears. Jim had dedicated a special song sung by the soloist for me, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house after that!

-Jim is a Deadhead. We had dated six years prior to getting engaged, and were engaged another ten years. The Best Man stood up and announced, "What a long, strange trip it's been!" Sadly, he continued with one of the best wedding speeches I ever heard, but we have no record of it - the photographer (not the one who donated her hair band), who was to also have the wedding recorded, neglected to tell me that there was no recording until we were literally leaving.

-This was all in December, 2011. We got the wedding pictures in January, 2015.

But do you know what? Other than wishing we could hear all of Eric's speech, and still wishing that my parents had been there, it's all good. I had the right groom this time, and that's what makes it right.

My wish for everyone who reads this finds someone at least half as wonderful as my guy!

And the song at the wedding: I Will Be Here.