Our Love Story: Part 3

Preface: If you missed Part 1 & 2 of our love story, go back & get caught up here & here before continuing below!

May 31, 2008

The big day had finally arrived. Running on less than a handful of hours of sleep, no coffee or energy drinks were needed to get this girl up & running. It was a wedding day. My best friend was getting married.

The drive back up to the church was quick. With the sun not yet up, the roads were empty and the traffic lights were green. I arrived to a bustling, bright church – the bride bouncing around on Cloud 9. The energy was contagious. It was a wedding day!

If we thought that time had flown by the day before the wedding, it picked up it’s pace & sped by even faster that morning. Up-dos were set, hairspray was flying, laughter was flowing – everything was perfect.

Except, no wedding day can get by with being “perfect”, something always has to happen to throw things off. And this wedding day was no exception to that rule. Paul & Naomi had planned a church ceremony, followed by a reception at a park nearby. But when rain came overnight, and more rain threatened all morning, a decision had to be made. Not wanting to see each other before the ceremony, I ran messages back & forth between Paul & Naomi.

“What does the forecast say?”

Run back.

“They are calling for rain.”

Run back.

“Has anyone been over to the park?”

Run back.

“Yes, the guys who were supposed to set everything up this morning are here & they say there are big puddles everywhere.”

Run back.

“What should we do?”

I will never envy a bride & groom in their situation. The moments ticking down, a decision had to be made. Do they push forward to set things up & stick with Plan A at the park? Or completely switch gears & rearrange everything to kickstart Plan B, which was to stay at the church? Finally, running messages back & forth were no longer good enough. The bride & groom met to talk with a door between them.

The decision was made. Plan B it was. The ceremony would take place, then everyone would be asked to exit & socialize in the large entryway of the church. Meanwhile, a crew of people would transform the sanctuary from a ceremony location into a reception hall. Stress ran a little high as everyone was upset by the turn of events. What could we do though? With a water-logged park & more rain in the forecast, it wasn’t just the best choice, it was the only choice.

Rain or not, the day was marching forward. The photographer had set up a makeshift backdrop in one of the classrooms and was taking the day’s formal portraits against it. In a flurry, we all were suddenly dressed and standing against the backdrop for bridesmaid group photos. It was emotional, not just because of the weight of the day, but because the day we had all imagined (and the day my best friend had dreamed about) had just taken an abrupt 90˚ turn without much warning and before we could put our seat belts on. Sure, they were still getting married, but her reception was going to be completely different than anything she’d envisioned. And it’s obviously a tough hurdle to get over.

Meanwhile, the guys were getting dressed down another hallway. In a room overflowing with cologne; vests, ties, shiny shoes, cufflinks, and jackets were being put on.

Laughing to keep the emotions at bay, Elliot (Naomi’s brother & one of the groomsmen) poked Derrick, “Have you talked to Kara yet?”

“Kara? The Maid of Honor? No, I haven’t really had a chance to,” he shrugged.

“I think she likes you,” Elliot teased.

“Yeah?” Derrick struggled to keep the heat from rising into his cheeks. He thought it was interesting, the Maid of Honor had an interest in him? He set a point in his mind to find an opportunity to chat with her & see if it was true.

And suddenly, it was time for a wedding. The music played, we all proceeded down the aisle, and took our places.

Naomi was radiant. And Paul was a puddle. I’m not sure if you had asked him to form a cohesive sentence for a million dollars, if he would have been able to. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from his beautiful bride, and let’s be honest, none of us really could.

That is, until the Best Man took the microphone to sing. Suddenly my attention was ripped from my best friend to this amazing performance. At that point, if you had asked me to form a cohesive sentence for a million dollars, I might not have been able to. I simply could not believe that Derrick had such a beautiful voice!

During the ceremony, the sky grew thunderously dark (see the difference in the above photos & the ones below?). By the time Naomi & Paul were pronounced husband & wife, it was pouring down rain. Taking Derrick’s arm (and trying so hard to keep my feet on the ground – partially because he was so tall & partially because I was floating on Cloud 9) we recessed back down the aisle.

Before we even had a chance to say anything to each other, we were called back to the front of the church for formal portraits. We were whisked through bridal party formals, as the church was transformed. The chairs were stacked up and tables unfolded. Centerpieces were set out and each place was set. The amount of work that went into transforming the church was immense and like magic, it happened before our eyes.

Family formals were flown through and suddenly were were herded back to a back hallway to line up for formal introductions into the reception. It was the first chance we had to actually talk.

“So, are you ready for your toast?” I asked.

“Sure, there’s not much to it,” he assured me.

“Well, do you have notes or an outline?”

“Nope, I’m gonna make it up as I go along. Something will come to me.”

I was horrified and I could not believe my ears. I was prepared. I had index cards with an outline of what I wanted to say, and here the Best Man – the Groom’s brother – had nothing! He was simply expecting something to “come” to him.

“Please tell me you’ve at least thought of what you want to say!”

“Sure, I’ve thought about it. I’m just going to wish them congratulations and then say something about them making me an Uncle.”

Up to this point, I wasn’t sure if my level of horror could not go any higher, but it did.

“You can not say anything about that!!”

He laughed, “Why not? It’ll be great! Besides, this whole Best Man Toast thing is kind of stupid, don’t you think?”

Petrified, I dashed into the closest classroom and came back seconds later with pen and paper. “Here! Use this! At least jot down a few ideas so you have something to go off of,” I shoved everything into his hands.

He laughed again, “Nah, I don’t need this! It will be fine – just wait & see.”

I tried one more time. This was my best friend’s wedding! I couldn’t let the Best Man give some shallow speech and then joke about a niece or nephew! “Please, just write down maybe a story, or a few things you admire about your older brother, anything but don’t talk about babies!”

Again, he handed the pen & paper back to me. “Really, I’m fine. You need to chill out.”

And with that, it was time to be introduced. Stepping up to the doorway, I made my best attempt to wipe the horror off of my face & put a smile on. I simply could not believe that Derrick was so unprepared. Well, at least the bride & groom would have a nice toast from me.

..Part 4 coming soon!