It's every bride's nightmare for the cake to collapse, the photographer to not show up, or for her dress to be stained. These nightmares even haunted me when I was engaged.
When sharing some of of my pre-wedding jitters and worries to one of my best friends, she told me, "Rachel all you need to get married is your fiance and the pastor, think of everything else as a bonus." Obviously most brides want more than just the pastor and their fiance to show up, but this comment helped put things into perspective. The purpose of the day is not to have the most hashtags and "liked" pictures from your wedding. It's not to be published on the most envied wedding blog or pinterest. It's to be married to your partner and to celebrate that union. Everything else is a bonus.
But I did have a few nightmares come to real life on my actual wedding day. It was not "perfect."
We were supposed to be married in a lovely garden; my fiance and I really wanted an outdoor wedding. The morning of the wedding looked promising but as the time got closer the dark clouds rolled in and the rain started. Cats and dogs kind of rain. The staff was wonderful and set up chairs as fast as they could in our indoor back-up location. The bridal party was shuffled into golf carts through ice cold rain pellets (okay that part was actually a lot of fun). But it wasn't "perfect", certainly not what a bride dreams of.
My sweet friend Jana helping to keep me dry! Love her!
She's an incredible videographer too! Check her out her website Milestones by Jana and find her on Facebook!
Fast forward to the reception, and I'm sitting at the sweetheart table with my sweetheart when I see his aunt walking in with a cake in her hands. I turned to my husband and asked "Why is your aunt carrying a cake? Oh! I haven't seen mine! Where is it?" Where is it was the question alright. It wasn't there! My husbands aunt came to the rescue and got us a small cake so we could take pictures with it and have something, but there was no 3-tier coconut wedding cake. It was not "perfect." Certainly not what a bride dreams of.
If you put my wedding on TV in "Four Weddings" it would not have been perfect. If you put it in the Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, she'd have a heart attack. If tried to put it on "The Knot" they would certainly be in a knot. Because to them, weddings are glamourous, seamless, and pinterest- perfect. In real life, weddings are hilarious behind-the-scenes moments that nobody knows about, like holding up the bride's dress so she can go to the bathroom, your mom finally hemming her dress the night before the wedding, and your crazy cousin taking a video documentary so you can remember it all.
I cherish one memory so much from a cousin of mine. After the wedding she wrote me and said that she had stepped outside of the reception hall for a minute, and while she was outside she saw a beautiful rainbow. She said that rainbow was like God's blessing on my marriage. I wish I could've seen that rainbow, but I'm so glad God sent it.
So there were a couple of slip-ups, and my wedding didn't meet "perfect" standards to the wedding world, but it was the BEST, most beautiful, and most perfect day of MY life and I will never take it back.
To all you beautiful brides that are stressed, loaded with too much starbucks, and worrying about details, remember...no matter what happens that day, you will be left with the best, most hilarious, and precious memories you'll ever have, and a hubby who is all your own. :)
PS- The cake lady was SO embarrassed that the delivery man never came, she gave us a refund, a gift certificate, and made our cake all over again so we could enjoy it! SWEET!
Picture Credit: Ricky Oliveras (awesome photographer!)
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