When she woke up that morning it was raining. Not just a little bit of rain. A whole lot of rain. It seemed to be coming from the left and the rain, straight down and sideways. It even looked like the rain was coming straight back up from out of the ground. Oh, and there was hail. And lighting. And just a wee bit of wind. As she ran to the hotel window to look outside, her maid of honour snapped the curtains shut. Running to the t.v. to see the weather forecast, another bridesmaid threw the remote across the room. The girls sat her down on the bed and took turns telling her that it would all be okay. And as she pictured their perfect outdoor ceremony floating away, she started to tear up. When she realized that they didn’t have a back-up location, she cried. A whole lot of tears.
Down the hall, he was silent. His groomsmen were pacing back and forth not really sure what to say. They had managed to keep him away from the windows. Managed to hide the remote. The groom had no clue that it was raining. His silence was in fact just nerves. What on earth were they going to do when the groom realized that a small hurricane was happening outside of the building? Minutes later as the men all got down to the hotel lobby, they could no longer hide it. He saw the rain. He saw the lightning. He saw small children flying away in the strong winds. And then he finally spoke. Spoke words that I can’t type here. As he pictured their perfect outdoor ceremony being washed away in the park, he started to worry. When he realized that they didn’t have a back-up location he got choked up. And then we thought about his bride seeing the bad weather, his heart broke.
They had opted for a first look. As she came down the hotel stairs, he was standing there waiting. Their eyes met and they both smiled. They hugged. They kissed. They said, “I love you”. And then as they turned to look out the window and discuss the weather, the father of the bride was standing there. In slow motion, a giant gust of wind came up, grabbed her father’s umbrella, turned it sideways, yanked it out of his hands and sent it flying. First up. Then down. Then into a car. And then it was gone. Her father’s eyes met her own and she started to cry. Her husband-to-be hugged her tight.
Within minutes the groomsmen were scrambling. Making calls, rounding up guests, changing plans. The past three months of planning were completely re-worked in a total of 20 minutes. He had stopped worrying. She had stopped crying. The guests had stopped blowing away in the wind. And then it was time…
As she stood at the top of the stairs, she wasn’t sure quite what to expect. Her groom-to-be and their friends and family had called their favourite restaurant pleading for a favour. The entire main floor had been cleared out. Chairs had been moved. Flowers laid out. Candles lit. The lights dimmed and the music playing. As she walked through the doors, she was greeted with 100 of their friends and family smiling. And a smile broke across her face too. It may have been small and an hour late. It may have been raining so hard outside that it sounded like a parade marching by. And it may not have been as they’d always pictured it, but it was perfect. And when her eyes met his, the entire world just melted away. As they said their vows to each other they now cried again. But this time tears of joy. Tears of happiness. Tears of love. The kind of tears you cry when you realize that you’ve just married your very best friend…
…Today Ewan and I are celebrating our 5 year wedding anniversary. Writing this story made me so happy remembering our wedding day. Yes, we were silly and didn’t have a rain back-up, but even if I could go back and change things, I wouldn’t. Being huddled together in a room too-small for 100 guests, it was very romantic and intimate and really was perfect. Yes, we were just babies, but we knew we were supposed to be married and just couldn’t wait. To answer some hagglers out there, Ewan and I were only 21 and 22 when we got married. I’m pretty sure some of our family members thought we were insane. But we just knew.
We wanted to say thank you to our friends and family for their support over the last five years – a lot has happened! Thank you to our brides and grooms and our blog followers for reminding us that love is always right around every corner. And thank you to my amazing husband for loving me every day more than the last. I love you, forever.
So, now if you want to have a little laugh about just how young we were when we got married, the first video here is just our vows – short and sweet. The second video is the entire ceremony – complete with the 21 year old flower girl! We wrote our own vows (and Ewan bawls like a baby), so checking out the first video is definitely worth it. Happy Saturday!
- Brianna and Ewan (officiant in the video is our friend, Wayne Prevett : owner of Kettle Creek Weddings)
Just our vows :
Full version :
by Brianna
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