Friday, June 15, 2012

10 years on ... still laffing strong

Man, 10 years is a long time. 10 years ago, Friends and ER were still on TV, and American Idol had just had its very first season. The iPod had only been around for six months, and we couldn't even comprehend having the Internet on our phones. And, you know what else happened 10 years ago? Yeah, Cory and I got married in a wedding day to end all wedding days.  Ok, that might be a bit of hyperbole. It definitely wasn't close to one of the $50 million celebrity weddings popular for the pictures in People Magazine. But, it was special because we made it through intact, and now, I get many, many laffs thinking back at the disasters that befell us on June 15, 2002.
You know what else was going on 10 years ago? Not a whole lot of digital photography. Yeah, all our photos are film, so we've had to scan them in. Thus, the so-so quality. All you young kids and your digital photos should count yourself lucky.

I think there is a saying out there that claims bad things happening on your wedding day bodes well for the future of your marriage. Take the old superstition about rain being good on your wedding day: Rain symbolizes blessings, cleansing, unity, and a new day, and therefore means good luck for the marriage. Personally, I always thought they just made that up to make you feel better when all your plans for beautiful outdoor wedding pictures were ruined by torrential sheets of water pouring down from the sky.

But, then came my own wedding day exactly 10 years ago. After that fateful day, I was suddenly all aboard the bad-luck-on-your-wedding-means-good-luck-for-your-marriage train.

See, my own wedding day was filled, I mean filled, with mishaps, mistakes and oopsie-daisies. So many "issues" occurred that halfway through the reception, I finally lost it and burst into tears. The ugly, crying tears, though, not the beautiful, glistening eyes of a new bride.

I'll start from the beginning to give you an overview of the day:

The wedding party before the day started to go downhill.

1. It started with the veil. I really, really wanted my veil to cover my face. I thought, when else am I going to have the chance to wear that, right? But, I also really wanted to wear a tiara. Again, as much as I love Kate Middleton, I'm never going to actually be a princess like her, so my wedding day was pretty much it for the tiara-wearing. Well, my dad walked me down the aisle and was supposed to lift my veil up and over my tiara to put it behind my head. Yup, if you can see where this is going, the veil got caught in the tiara and was stuck. It was only a few seconds of tugging and wrestling, but it felt like forever.
Getting ready to walk down the aisle with my dad and that blasted veil.

2. A cell phone went off in the middle of the ceremony. Not a big deal, I know, but just one more thing on my list. (Keep in mind cell phones were not smart phones back then!)

3. We had a ring bearer carry our rings down the aisle. Matthew was older, so we weren't worried about him dropping it or losing it. But, apparently, people started teasing him about it. So, being the smart kid that he was, he pulled the knot super tight to ensure there would be no droppage. During the rehearsal, our pastor said that if we dropped the ring, to just pretend it hadn't happened and no one would know. "Not that that's ever happened, though," he assured us. When it came time to exchange rings, our best man, Rich, tried to get the rings off the pillow, but Matthew's super tight knot would not come undone. Rich worked on it and worked on it while the crowd waited with baited breath. He finally got the knot undone only to have the ring fly off the pillow. It landed on the wooden chancel with a eardrum-shattering "PLING," then proceeded to "pling, pling, pling, pling" as it rolled all the way across the chancel. Rich couldn't decide if he should go after it or not. But, it was clearly obvious to everyone there what had happened. There was no ignoring it. He retrieved it, and we were finally able to exchange rings.
Us with our ring bearer, Matthew, and flower girl, Haley. (BTW, Molly is super jealous that "that little girl" got to go to our wedding, but she didn't. Molly doesn't quite understand why it was an impossibility for her to attend.)

Blasted ring!

4. We decided to include the traditional lighting of the unity candle in our ceremony. Each of our mothers lit the individual candles before the ceremony, then we went around to light the unity candle. When we tipped the candles over to light the unity one, all the wax poured over the wick of the unity candle. It covered the wick, and it would not light. At all. We tried and tried. We finally gave up. I started to cry small tears at this point. (I also now hold my breath at every wedding I attend, hoping their unity candle lights.)

It looks like the Unity Candle is lit, doesn't it? Yeah, it wasn't. 

We made it through the rest of the ceremony relatively unscathed and headed to the reception, confident that everything that could've gone wrong, had. It was time to party.

At the reception site.

5. The clubhouse at Lake Quivira had recently been renovated, and we were the first reception since the renovation completion. We made our entrance and immediately started our first dance. It went fine, no tripping or falling. We get to the end, Cory dips me in one final dip ... and the fire alarms start blaring! No joke. Fire Alarms. There were rumors abounding about some quesadillas smoking in the kitchen or the votive candles on the tables tripping the alarms. All I know is that while I was held in the dip position, all I could see and hear were the flashing lights and blaring sirens. The fire alarms continued going on and off throughout the evening.

Dancing along. Having a fine time.

And, there go the fire alarms. 
6. When you get married, you have to sign a marriage license. It is signed by witnesses, which in our case were our best man and maid of honor. We did that at the church, and somehow (no one has ever copped to this) our copy of the marriage license made its way over to the reception. It was placed on our table. I am standing by the table, obvliviously talking happily with friends. Someone must've grabbed something from under the license, thus disrupting its precarious position, because the next thing you know, Katie Hayden is throwing herself across me to put out the flames consuming our marriage license. It had apparently slid into one of the votive candles sitting on the table. Katie rescued it before the entire thing went up in flames, but Cory's name was completely burned off the license.
The license itself!

While I can see the humor of that last one now (and even have the burned copy framed on my wall), it was at that point in the barrage of disasters that I finally lost it. I started the ugly cry. I cried for a while, downed a beer, and finally said, "to heck with it!"


We were married, and that's really what mattered. We had a ton of good stories, and well, 10 years later, some people even still remember our wedding. Albeit, they remember it for all its drama (and possibly the open bar), but they still remember it.



Whether Alanis Morissette (wrongfully) believes it's ironic when it rains on your wedding day, or whether superstition says it's good luck, I guess all that matters is that 10 years later, we're still married and happy. And, we've added two kids to boot. So, maybe everyone should hope for disasters to befall their weddings. It sure makes for a lot of laffs during your marriage, and really, what else can you hope for?

laffing and laffing and laffing ... 





14 comments:

  1. So I've got to tell you I read this saying "what? That happened?!" I maybe knew about 1/4 of those things and you know it isn't because I have a bad memory! I didn't know you cried during the recption either. I thought your wedding was beautiful and a total blast.
    (And for some reason the other day I was thinking about all the weddings I went to where I didn't have a digital camera and have maybe 3 photos. That film stuff was so annoying!)

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  2. Wow! That is a lot of exciting things to remember! I guess you are right though!!! It HAILED the day before our wedding and my mom made us go out and cover up all the pansies she had just planted to look nice for the reception... ;) We're going on 10 and it's crazy how the time flies doesn't it!? CONGRATS to you and CORY!!!!

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  3. That's right! It was eventful, but I also remember thinking how fun it was, and how beautiful you guys looked. I also rarely get to put out fires, so that was exciting!

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    1. Are you sure all those things happened? I just went back to the photo albums to make sure I was there. Yes, I was there and remember it was a beautiful and perfect wedding.
      Congratulations to you and Cory. Cheers to many more Anniversaries!

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  4. Happy 10th Anniversary, Amy. I was one of the sober ones and I recall it being a blast. I stuck to the best appetizers I've ever had so my fellow D-Chi brothers can enjoy more alcohol!:-) Your blog reminded me of the deafening pling plings of the ring. I remember Rich looking back when it happened and me thinking "if he doesn't go get it, I think I am going to have to break formation and dive after it!". I think those are the things (probably just for guys) that make a wedding "unique". Yours was definitely one of the best of the 2000's and I remember it fondly! Thanks for the privilege of sharing that with you and Cory. Well, I stood up there for you guys, so I am so proud of your 10-year milestone...here's to the next 10 and the rest of your lives!
    -Cheers, Kenny Yeung

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  5. Your account of the events is fantastic! I read it aloud at lunch to Stephanie and she was in tears with laughter! That was the best weekend we had had in a long time! Your are blessed to have those "laughable" moments now! I am also so grateful that you have the last family pictures with Uncle Dwight! Rember the red hair hat? Only Uncle Dwight! It was a perfect weekend, with a perfect (mishaps that made it perfect----perfectly you) wedding! Love to you both!

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  6. Happy Anniversary!

    And, btw...I also had my wedding reception at Lake Quivira! No fire alarms though...

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  7. What a great day!!! Easily on of the best weddings I've been to. So much fun. I remember so much from that day it's crazy. Especially after some decided to extend the open bar. Congrats to one of my favorite couples on 10 awesome years!!! -Felten

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  8. I'm with you, Laura. I was reading this thinking...what?? I don't remember all this stuff happening! Is it weird that I don't even remember the fire alarms? I just remembered that it was such a fun and beautiful wedding! Congratulations, Cory and Amy!!
    ~Jennifer~

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  9. Ok, you guys are starting to freak me out about the fire alarms. I thought maybe I dreamed them. So, we went back and found our video. This is the end of our first dance, it cuts off, but at the very end, you can hear the fire alarms! I promise, I didn't just make them up!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5967x4-FiQ

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  10. I was there and I don't remember the fire alarms either, but you have posted a movie that shows that Cory has some great talent in modifying computer files. Wow! It sounds like there really was fire alarms.
    We really had a great time and congratulations on 10 years.

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  11. I loved that day! You didn't know it then, but I had morning sickness from Callan at the wedding and reception. All of the mishaps kept my mind off of it. I'm so happy you guys got married!

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  12. The candles, the fire alarms, the burned license. I'm seeing a dangerous trend and I think you should consider it lucky that your veil didn't catch on fire!

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  13. Such fun memories, so glad I could be a part of it. Hopefully Erin and I will be as blessed and happy as you two 10 years from now (and probably with all girls as well)!

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