After
lots of discussion and negotiating on the type of wedding
to have (I wanted a Vegas no fuss, no frills Elvis wedding
/ he wanted the big church affair he never had), we planned
the wedding of our dreams. I was enjoying this second time
around because we could do it all our way. We planned it
for Labor Day weekend, and had a whole weekend of fun things
planned for our OOT guests, with the rehearsal on Friday,
Saturday a tail gate picnic and Marlins-Cubs game for 24
of our nearest and dearest, and the wedding and reception
Sunday evening. The only guest we didn't plan on was Hurricane
Frances. We had been keeping an eye on the weather and praying
the storm was going to miss us or turn like they usually
do, but on Wednesday night we got the dreaded call from
Gina at Lighthouse Point Yacht Club that they were boarding
up and canceling our reception. Even if it turned at the
last minute and missed us, the club wouldn't be able to
get unshuttered and all the food in before Sunday. We called
the florist and she had already ordered and made up our
flowers ... more on her later. Thursday we get calls from
Men's Wearhouse and the bridal store - they are closing
early, either come get our clothes or wait til next week,
so we race around picking up his tux and my dress. The only
time I really cried, I broke down at the bridal shop when
I saw my beautiful dress and thought I'd never get the chance
to wear it.
We were boarding up our own house and hunkering down, getting
in supplies for our two dogs and my brother who was going
to dog sit for us, trying to figure out what to do about
all the OOT relatives. My father was driving down from Michigan
and had made it to Orlando when the hotel there said they
were closing and they wouldn't be allowed to come south.
My mother and step dad had come back from Michigan a week
early (they are snowbirds), and my brother Dan and sister-in-law
had made it in from Milwaukee. Hubby's brother Ken had come
with the wife and three little boys and had gone to Orlando
and Daytona. We both work in a hospital (I'm a nurse, he
does computers) so all our friends are preparing to be locked
in the next 3 days. We are calling, calling family, my in-laws
in Daytona are fleeing to Biloxi, his brother Ed who was
supposed to be the best man is staying put in Daytona, and
his brother Ken from New York is flying home with the family.
Friday morning with a broken heart I had to call my sons
in Traverse City, Michigan and tell them to stay home, even
if they did come we don't have room for them to stay with
us and it doesn't look safe. They are 20 & 21 and I
had planned on them walking me down the aisle. Meanwhile
my nephew Jeff has made it from Milwaukee to Chicago and
had to turn around and go back, wasting his ticket I'd bought
him. That's when we lost our electricity - now we are hot,
sitting in the dark with candles and its raining. Meanwhile
we are mesmerized with this giant red blob covering the
whole state of Florida and the National Hurricane Center
is predicting a category 4 or 5 storm. The only bright spot
is my husband's kids left Tallahassee and Gainesville a
day early and drove down so they were here staying with
friends. We had mixed emotions, glad they are close by but
wondering if they are crazy to drive into this mess. Most
people are running away from - not into - this storm.
Saturday is more calls and waiting ... where is this storm
going? We are still in the dark, still hot, getting cranky
from being cooped up.
We go sit in the car about 1 am to charge the phone and
blessed relief
- air conditioning!!!!! We have a long heart to heart, the
storm has missed us and taken a northern turn. What are
we going to do? I felt numb . too tired and shocked to cry
. and my dear hubby says lets salvage something and at least
get married so the whole weekend isn't ruined. We have some
family here, we have the license and rings and lets just
do it. We start joking about the hell or high water wedding
and decide it's on if we can get our pastor to agree. Sunday
morning we drive over to the church. Not a soul around,
no lights anywhere but it's still standing and no damage
we can see. So we start with the phone calls first to the
pastor; yes, we know there's no electric. Yes, we know there
is no air conditioning, uh huh, yes, no music either. We
start calling and paging our florist on her 3 numbers ...
no answer. Yes, the soloist will come. We call our family,
yes, we know we are crazy, uh huh . wear anything ... it's
hot. 2 pm I find Winn Dixie open and set off with monsoon
rains looking for ice and candles. I got some raised eyebrows
at my basket: 4 bottles of champagne, a big plain cake,
3 bunches of flowers, some paper plates, and 12 big pink
religious candles.
The hell or high water wedding is on! We recruit his son
Dustin to play best man, and call my maid of honor Michele
in West Boca. God love her, she never batted an eye, or
inquired if we were crazy or drunk, and offers her house
for a party afterwards since she has electric and that most
important A/C. I know why she is my best friend in the whole
universe. We meet at the church at 4 pm. It is warm and
humid. We put some candles out and some silk flowers for
decorations and go put on our dresses while it's still light.
The awesome soloist played the guitar for us and we had
about 15 people there! Afterwards we stood outside the church
and took photos and people were honking and waving at us.
I felt like Princess Diana waving back at everyone. We made
a quick stop at our house to grab some stuff to take to
Michele's and headed off, our "Just Married" sign
slapped on the back of our minivan. We made a detour by
the hospital and had fun seeing all our shocked friends
faces at us in our wedding gown and tux. We had a great
time at Michele's, we all brought food and had shrimp, lobster
bites, teriyaki chicken and all that champagne. We came
home and our power was on! Yeah. Go FPL! The airport reopened
around noon on Monday so we packed for our honeymoon to
Vegas and Hawaii. We flew out on time still feeling giddy
that we had done it . hell or high water. |
