Weddingbee Blog

WHERE WE HAD LEFT OFF:

• The wedding schedule is thrown off by late makeup appointments
• I come home to find that all of our bouquets are dead, after our florist put them into the freezer instead of the fridge!
• Bridal portraits begin, I begin to doubt my choice in photographer
• Bridal party portraits begin, the photographer embarrasses my family and friends
• Mr. Shortcake and his groomsmen get ready with the help of a ping-pong table
• We leave for the chapel, and the rain (and our nervousness) begins!
• The ceremony begins, and I take the biggest (shortest) walk of my life!
• We will, we do, we did: the ceremony

NOTE: As usual, my recap photos are from a variety of sources. All post-processing has been done by me with each individual’s consent and permission.

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NOTE: Some readers have expressed their disappointment in how glum some of my posts are. As a blogger, I am trying to accurately tell the story of my wedding. Not everything was perfect, and many things went wrong. However, as in any good story, a happy ending is happiest when it comes after a plot crisis. And, in the words of G.K. Chesterton,

“Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

Take my posts as an example of what things can and do happen at weddings, but take it also to heart that is possible to have everything go wrong - and still remember your wedding day as one of the greatest days of your life.

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It was still raining. Bleh! Miserable and wet, my wedding party and I headed into the heart of Fort Langley to take our group photos. My father and I had explored the quaint town a few days earlier and had a ready list of photo locations should it rain. Since it was raining, I asked our photographer if we could go to those places. He shot down my suggestions, for reasons that are still unclear to all of us, preferring instead to take our photos in front of store windows.

I liked the three photos above (except for their blurriness), but the rest that he took were duplicates of the same pattern: stand here, hold your hands. Next shop. I was so upset - especially because I had sent him an email full of inspiration photos for our portraits. He had said that he had looked at them all, but it was as if he had a list of the “THE TOP TWENTY WEDDING PHOTOS YOU MUST GET AT EVERY WEDDING” and he was unwilling to deviate from his checklist (this was even more apparent at the reception, where he took pictures of the cake, a centerpiece, us dancing, us cutting the cake, and then spent the rest of the time eating or at the bar).

I started crying and told him that we didn’t hire him so that I could get my photos taken in front of merchandise. Mr. Shortcake was steamed, but stood there helplessly, holding the umbrella over my head as the wind splashed wet leaves over the bottom of my gown.

Many of you have commented on how I look so happy in my photos - I’ll let you in on a secret. The key to having a really realistic fake smile is to smile with your eyes, not just your mouth. This is a good tip at any wedding - you’re eventually going to get tired of smiling, and your cheeks WILL start to ache. Another tip - think of someone that you love! Can you guess who I was thinking of here?

He finally conceded, and let us go to one of my rainy-day back-up locations: the CN train station.

We took a couple of posed photos as a group, and were interrupted by a train rushing past the platform.

*idea!*

“Come on, girls!” I called to my bridesmaids, and we scurried over to the other end of the platform.

“Let’s hitch a ride!” I said to them, and hiked up my skirt, jamming my thumb skyward. My bridesmaids followed suit, and I called over to our clueless photographer, who was chatting with his assistant.

Quick thinking got us this:

Not appreciating my directions, the photographer stalked off. Not appreciating the thousands of dollars wasted on him, Mr. Shortcake and I headed for my favourite spot - the 1950s soda shop. I wiped my furious tears and sniffed at my new husband,

“I don’t care where he goes. I’m going to get a milkshake, whether or not we get photos of us!”

{to be continued}