MY NOT SO PERFECT YET STILL PERFECT WEDDING DAY

Jan 25, 2019
5 min read

Was it everything we had dreamed of? Did it go above and beyond what we could have imagined? To be completely honestly with you, I’m not really sure. If this sounds surprising to you, hear me out and keep reading.

The Lead Up

You see the weeks leading up to the wedding were overwhelmingly stressful. I felt completely burnt out. I wasn’t sleeping very well (which for me is crucial- I’m that girl who needs 9-10 hours of sleep to function and I was only getting 5-7). Things that were out of our control were falling out of place leaving me questioning if the 11 months we spent planning were worth it.

The venue we had booked a year in advance had changed owners two weeks before the wedding and hadn’t communicated this with us until I got in contact with the new events coordinator who was taking over our wedding. Already stressed about the wedding coming up in just two weeks I was overwhelmed by the fact they had passed little of our information on. I mean the menu we had finalised 6 months earlier could not be found. Why? How? I really couldn’t tell you.

'I honestly felt like we were

starting from scratch again,

two weeks out from the wedding'.

I had planned for rain and perhaps a slightly cooler day however I certainly did not expect a dust storm to blow in the morning before the wedding. I mean how random is that? We haven’t had one for years. Thankfully it passed over but what was worse was the almost cyclonic winds that blew in the night before the wedding and continued on into the wedding day. It was the kind of wind you experience a few times a year and certainly not something we had expected. But there was nothing we could do about it except try and embrace it.

As I mentioned earlier I felt completely burnt out and almost emotionless. I hit my breaking point when I received a parking ticket the day before the wedding. I had gone into town to get my nails done and unfortunately despite sprinting back to the car I was 15 minutes late and found two officers issuing me a parking ticket. I broke down. I started crying (the kind of crying where you can’t breathe or speak), which if you think about it probably seemed rather strange and hilarious to those around. But I couldn’t believe that another thing had gone wrong. The officers even felt so guilty they started crying with me.

'After this and the other unfortunate

events I wanted it to be over.

I was ready to be alone

with my husband, relaxing on our

honeymoon.'

The Wedding Day

I woke up at 5 am. It wasn’t even because I was overly excited but rather because my sleeping habits had me waking up that early all week. I didn’t need to start until 10am!

I contemplated all morning about what to do with my hair. For months I had been

growing it out so I could have luscious long curls for my wedding hair. I had it like this for my trial and had my heart set on it. However, because it was so windy I knew it was simply going to be flying around everywhere, the curls would drop out and it would look drab. So I had to make a last minute change. I decided to put the hair up (another thing adding to my stress).

A few hours later I started to feel excited. Our hair and makeup was finished ( I absolutely loved both) and the photographers and videographer had just arrived. And then I got a phone call...

“The events coordinator just called and said it’s too windy in Robertson to have the ceremony outside. We will have to move it inside”.

NO NO NO!!!! I was devastated and determined not to let this happen. The reception area was already set up for dinner and not fit for the ceremony. We ended up deciding to keep it outside and pray for the best (despite the fact that all our decorations were being blown down by the wind).

The Ceremony

Oh my goodness it was freezing and the wind was chaotic. My husband and I stood at the alter shaking whilst my bridesmaid tried to control my veil. It was hard to soak up every moment when we really were so cold. I was so pleased however that we were able to have the ceremony outside and nothing blew over. The most special moment to me was when we sang 'Reckless Love'. Lead by one of our very talented friends we instantly felt at ease and at peace remembering that the day was about God bringing us together within the union of marriage.

'And that was it, we were married!'

Although it was freezing, the photos were a lot of fun. We did some crazy poses with the bridal party and stopped at a few locations for Jacob and I’s photos.

The Reception

The reception began and before I knew it the night was almost over. Where had the day gone? I felt like I had so many more people to talk to. And I hadn’t even danced for a second on the dance floor? Unfortunately two of my family members had gotten sick from something they had eaten (both with the same allergy to gluten) and spent the night sick in the bathroom. The venue had run out of meals and were running behind. As much as I wish I could say these things didn’t bother me, they really did. I was upset the night hadn’t gone to plan. I started to cry when I was told we wouldn’t be able to have the sparkler send off because it was too windy outside (I think I was extremely tired and emotional at this point, hence easily triggered). This was something I really wanted to do as I think the photos and video footage of this look amazing. Yet somehow we managed to make it work.

Despite the Chaos it’s the Most Important thing that Counts

At the end of the day I married the love of my life. And so did he. And now we get to build our life together. There’s always things that lie beyond our control and unfortunately there were many of those things for us. As I look back on our wedding day I remember the special and precious moments I had with my husband, my bridal party, my family and other guests. I remember how beautiful I felt in my dress and how handsome my man looked in his blue suit. It may not have been everything I’d hoped it would be, but my life now is. And that’s what matters to me most.