A hurricane almost kept my parents from the wedding
There was exactly a 50% chance of rain at the time of our outdoor ceremony
And I completely lost my voice. For the entire day.
But other than that, best day ever 🙂
“Ummmm, this doesn’t seem like the best day to do this thing. Can we reschedule??”
It was 7am on my wedding day. I had just woken up from what felt like a light nap. Five trains went past my hotel room in Red Wing that night. Yes, I counted each one as they blared by, honking their horns keeping me from my vital pre-wedding sleep.
It should be amazing, right? The long-awaited wedding day was finally here. Exactly 441 days after Tony proposed. Dreamed about and planned for with anticipation building.
We thought my parents were going to be trapped in Florida by hurricane Irma, but miraculously they made it to MN and their home sustained far less damage than expected. Everything was going to be ok.
But when I woke up to a loud clap of thunder, I knew something was off besides the gloomy weather.
I cleared my throat without making a sound. Confused, I tried to say something. Nothing came out. Just silence.
Panic quickly started to rise. I had talked a lot the night before at the rehearsal dinner and had gone to bed with a bit of a sore throat but didn’t think anything of it.
After googling cures for a lost voice, I ran down from my hotel room to the restaurant in the lobby. After trying to get the attention of one of the waiters setting up for breakfast by using lots of hand motions, I squeaked out, “I’m getting married today! I lost my voice. Can I have some salt to gargle??”
The workers started at me, alarmed. Then they sprang into action, handing me hot tea with honey and offering all sorts of tips. I texted my personal attendants and they went to the pharmacy, picking up anything that could possibly help.
After an hour of trying a ton of different remedies, I still couldn’t speak above a whisper. I did the only thing left I could think of. I texted Tony, “I need to see you.” We weren’t planning on seeing each other before the first look, but I knew I had to see him.
I was expecting him to say, “I told you shouldn’t have stayed up so late every day last week. You should have rested more.” He would have been right. He did tell me that, and I didn’t listen to him.
I fell into his arms and started sobbing. He kept asking what was wrong and I tried to tell him I didn’t have a voice. How could I get married like this? I wouldn’t even be able to say our vows.
He hugged me tighter and assured me it would be ok. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that at the end of the day, we’d be married. Husband and wife. After 5 years together. Finally. He said he was so excited to spend the day with me, and that voice or no voice, it would be the best ever.
And he was right. I was so excited to marry him! I wouldn’t let a little setback steal our joy. I’ve always told my Lumos Couples that their day won’t go as planned and that’s ok. The bride and groom’s attitude determines how the day goes and sets the tone for everyone else. It was time to take my own advice.
I spent the morning writing notes instead of talking to my mom and bridesmaids while getting my hair and makeup done. I knew I wanted a fun, lively, upbeat morning to start the day on the right note. But everyone was taking my lead whispering to each other and to me instead of talking normally because I couldn’t talk. They kept looking at me with sad, I-feel-so-bad-for-you-eyes.
I encouraged loud music, mimosas, dancing and laughing and people started to get the picture that I was thrilled it was my wedding day and wanted to have a great time no matter the strange circumstances. I ran down the hallway of the hotel with my friend Becca, giggling about me being the silent bride and how ridiculous it was.
We had to make the decision by noon if we should have our 4:00 pm ceremony outside as planned or in the reception hall. It rained all morning and the forecast gave a 50% of rain that afternoon. We decided to go ahead as planned and prayed that 200 people wouldn’t be soaking wet and miserable while we got married.
The only other time I ugly cried on my wedding day was when I opened my gift from Tony. It was a birch vase from an art store in Duluth that I looked at longingly on every trip north. It’s one of those things I’ve always admired but never actually thought I would own. Pair that with the 5 roses he got to put in it (one for each year we’d been together) and the sweet notes of our favorite memories together, I didn’t stand a chance!
The time came for our first look and the rain had stopped! We were so excited! We had the dog sitter bring our dog Kyle to the park so the three of us could get photos together before the ceremony. Having some time for just our little family was priceless! When we called Kyle’s name and he realized we were in the park, he got soooooooo excited and sprinted to us. It’s one of our favorite memories from the day.
I wanted colorful, tropical, non-traditional flowers in my bouquet and Clementine Floral nailed it!!
We had cocktail hour and lawn games in the park before the ceremony so people could relax and enjoy themselves. We wanted to set the tone for a very laid-back, fun day and this was a great way to do it!
My grandma is one of my favorite people in the whole entire world and I knew I wanted her to be a big part of the day. We chose her as our “flower lady” and she was so precious! Don’t be afraid unconventional ideas for your wedding. Make it your own and what’s right for you. You don’t have to do something just because it’s traditional.
This was the part of was worried about. I almost had our officiant read my vows for me since I couldn’t talk, but Tony insisted he wanted to hear them from me. I whispered the vows I had written into the microphone and miraculously, most people said they could hear me.
News had spread pretty fast about me losing my voice, but the people who hadn’t heard we’re really confused why I was whispering my vows.
Immediately after the ceremony, Tony and I jumped on our friend’s boat for a celebratory ride down the river. I’ve grown up boating on the river, and it feels like home more than anywhere else. We knew we wanted some time to ourselves afterwards to soak everything in and this was the perfect place for it.
Tony is an awesome saxophone player so for our grand entrance, we walked in playing to Thrift Shop, a song that was HUGE when we first started dating. He was actually playing the part and I was just pretending, but it surprised everyone!
One of my favorite pictures of marriage was at a wedding where they did the anniversary dance. The vivacious last couple standing had been together for 65 years and they beat out everyone by a long shot with huge smiles on their faces. They celebrated the rest of the night by outshining everyone else on the dance floor, hardly even taking a break to sit down.
I got home and told Tony about them (at that point we were just dating) and he looked at me and said, “I hope that’s us someday.”
I smiled at him and replied, “Me too!”
Marriage is sticking together through the joy, tears and fights.
It’s a story that needs to be told, and it’s worth celebrating.
One:One did a great job of capturing our wedding day and telling our story!
