A Wedding Day Memory

Being the organizer that I am, my wedding day was turning out perfect! The whole day had gone exactly as planned and now we were at the reception center taking pictures before people started coming.

I was especially excited about how cute my little nieces were going to look in their red dotted-swiss dresses and their hair curled.

When they showed up for pictures before the reception, 4 of the 6 nieces also had dots on their faces. They had broken out in CHICKEN POX that afternoon.

I was very disappointed because they weren't going to get to run around looking cute all night and entertaining the crowd, but I was grateful that they at least came for pictures.

Wait, there's more! In the photo below (I have zoomed in on part of the photo and it's a little blurry), I am thinking to myself...I really can't complain because everything else has been perfect! Just as I am thinking this, Stacy (on the right) drops her bouquet on the floor and is sliding off the bench so I am holding her by the back of her dress and she's not happy about that. Krissy (on the left) is leaning heavily on me Is it's hard for me to sit up straight, April (next to Krissy) won't look at the camera and is probably the only person in the photo that knows I'm am a little stressed out. Tiffany (on my lap) starts to fuss. I am trying to juggle what is going on in my little part of the world - with a smile on my face, thinking that the photographer is going to snap the picture any second. And just when I think I have everything under control, Tiffany throws up all over my wedding dress. If you can see my hand in the photo, I am trying to catch what I can. The photographer is trying so hard not to laugh because he is trying to be professional about his job. Obviously he did want to capture this moment - because he did! :)

The picture below is the whole photo, and what makes me laugh about this photo is not one person in this photo even has a clue what is going on in my little world at the moment - including the mothers of these little girls.

All night long as I greeted guests I had this large spot on my satin dress where we had tried to wipe the spots off. I'm sure people noticed it, and for some, it was a conversation piece. I remember seeing people look down at the spot, but most people didn't say anything about it. I didn't really care - I was a new bride!

This dress was duplicated from a dress that my sister-in-law's mother pulled out of her cedar chest one day. I loved her dress so much that I took it to a lady and asked her to make one just like hers, in my size. It is a vintage style dress, made out of satin with 24 covered buttons in the back and 34 on the sleeves. The dress has over 15 yards of 4 inch lace on it. I was looking for something unique, but practical - it cost me just over $100 total. And if you look closely, you can still see the spot!

This story reminds me that no matter how hard I try to make things perfect, they don't always turn out that way, I don't have control over everything, and it's important to keep a smile on my face and keep moving forward. The important things were perfect - my marriage to a great man, my family's love for us, and the all the friends who came to support us.

And one more thing - my kids laugh and make fun of my hat - and although I thought the hat was "beautiful", I give you permission to do the same.