Weddingbee Blog

After our portraits, Mr. French Fries and I drove to our hotel for family pictures as quickly as we could. Because of the rain, traffic was terrible, and as if that wasn’t enough, there was construction and detours everywhere. What should have been a 10 minute trip took us upwards of 20-25, and we were super late for family pictures. We parked our car and walked into the hotel to find my immediate family waiting in the lobby with Mr. FF’s brother/best man. Everyone from both sides of our families were supposed to be there, and everyone on Mr. FF’s side except for his brother hadn’t shown up. Um, really? Yeah, really.

Add to this that I was emotional, tired from the day’s activities thus far, we were running late, and I hadn’t eaten much so far that day. Oh, and we both were soaking wet from the rain—Mr. FF’s suit coat was drenched, the hem of my dress was stained with mud, the tiers/pickups of my skirt looked like a deflated balloon and were falling out in some places, and my hair was wet and sticking to my face and neck.

Is the stage set yet? Because, OK. Here’s where I’m going to keep it real.

When I saw my parents and my sister/MOH, the floodgates opened.

I had been keeping it together all afternoon during our portraits, and I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I had a meltdown and cried. I claimed that it was because ”my dress is ruined!” when in reality, it really wasn’t that bad. What was really bothering me was that the *one thing* that we didn’t plan for and couldn’t control—the weather—was the thing that had thrown a huge wrench into our wedding day. I was stressed out and really disappointed that it rained…and I couldn’t hold my tears in any longer.

Much to their credit, my family immediately took action. Mr. French Fries hugged me and made sure I was okay, handed me off to my mom and sisters, and went to get me a glass of wine (very smart). My mom and sisters began bustling my dress, reassuring me that it really did look okay. My dad got me a Kleenex and told me that I looked beautiful and everything would work out. My mom reminded me that the stressful parts of the day were over—we were inside, drying off, and we had a reception to look forward to! It’s times like these when I can’t even begin to explain how much my family means to me.

Mr. French Fries returned with my wine and gave me a hug and a kiss. He told me that we weren’t going to worry about things anymore, and that we would deal with his missing family members later. It was time for us to enjoy what I had worked so hard on and what we had looked forward to for almost 2 years. And with that…I dried my eyes, and reminded myself what the day was really about: Mr. French Fries and I getting married. It wasn’t about the pictures or my dress or how we hadn’t planned for rain. It was about us becoming a family, and celebrating our union with those closest to us.

So. My take-away from this? If you cry on your wedding day (and I’m not talking happy tears) IT IS OKAY. I promise. In the days and weeks following the wedding, I beat myself up for crying and being upset for a portion of our wedding day. I told myself that I shouldn’t have let it get to me; that I should have been stronger and just focused on the positive. Maybe that’s the case, but hindsight is 20-20. At that moment, it would have been an extremely hard thing to do—I’m a total planner, and things were most definitely not going according to plan. In talking it over with Mr. FF in the weeks after the wedding, I realized that I was focusing more on the rain and crying and being upset for 5 minutes than I was focusing on the 99.9% of the day that went completely perfectly. Don’t let the details become bigger than the purpose, right?

I am acknowledging that I wasn’t completely and utterly happy on our wedding day—for a whopping 5 minutes. I realize that in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter. We still got married, and we still had an absolutely beautiful wedding. And if Mr. FF and I could do it all over again? We wouldn’t change the weather—after all, it makes for a great story for our grandkids.

Miss a chapter?

First, we drove all of our stuff to our venue.
Then, I freaked about the weather forecast.
Next, we rehearsed.
We had a yummy rehearsal dinner!
The girls got glam.
We both got dressed and ready to rock and roll.
Mr. FF watched me walk down the aisle.
We got married!!!
We beat the storm for our bridal party pictures.
We grabbed umbrellas and got lovey-dovey.

(Unless otherwise noted, all photos in this post are courtesy of Molly from MThree Studio.)