We Did

[Dana Jean]

Pre-Wedding Story #1:
I arrived in Beaufort two days before Hurricane Matthew hit the U.S. east coast, both to help Bryan get his mother to stay with her sister in Columbia and to get last-minute wedding stuff accomplished that could be done only in South Carolina. On the day I drove in, one of our sweet kitty cats died unexpectedly and without warning. We didn't have much time to grieve because we were monitoring the hurricane and had decided to stick it out. It was downgraded to a weakened category 2, but it still required running around getting hurricane supplies because we knew we would lose power.

Had the hurricane not arrived, we would have been getting haircuts, pedicures, wedding clothing alterations, and cats put into pet boarding places, but because everything was closed (or sustained hurricane damage), we had no choice but to put the surviving cat into a cat carrier, pack our stuff up during daylight hours, and then get on the road to drop both mother and cat with aunt in Columbia.

Holy crap. On the day after the hurricane, none of the stores in Beaufort were open - no power - but his mother was almost out of adult diapers, so an emergency run was in order. While I drove, I listened to a National Public Radio station out of Savannah that gave interstate updates. Apparently you could drive out of county but no one was allowed back in because of road debris. I went to Publix on Lady's Island, about 10 minutes away, and they were running the store on a generator. Thank God I was there early with other rational shoppers: by the time I'd stood in line with groceries, there were cops at the end of every single cash register check-out, and the assistant store manager was holding back a crowd outside that stretched half-way down the parking lot. I was able to get diapers, apples, bananas, frozen sausage biscuits, and some cat food.

It was like living the reverse of an Eagles song in a banana republic: you could leave but you couldn't come back in, and then you got to endure angry hungry crowds in grocery store parking lots.

We left two days after the hurricane, got his mom to Columbia, spent the night in eastern Tennessee, and then came in to Nashville on Tuesday before the wedding...and little did we know that we left one hurricane only to enter another: Hurricane Wedding.

I am so sorry about your kitty. Poor babe.

And I'm sorry all this stress happened, but by the pictures, you would never know a thing wasn't anything but perfect.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Pre-Wedding Story #2:
Our wedding was a trans-continental one! There were so many people who crawled out of the woodwork for this event. Guests and wedding party traveled from California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, several parts of Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. We were astonished that so many people went out of their way to attend. It was extremely touching to me that several invitees in foreign countries called in the days before the wedding, from England, Germany, Sweden, and Bulgaria.

My best friend from college, my two oldest childhood friends, and another close friend from high school were the core group of women who either stayed with us or were at the house helping me and my mother, doing everything from putting together wedding favors to making floral arrangements to putting together the wedding seating chart. These women are my oldest, closest friends, and my parents know them each very well. One lived with us while we were in high school, another I'd known since we were three, another I'd known since we were five and six, etc. My parents basically had five daughters and one son living with them for three days. This generated huge smiles and loud continuous laughter.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Wedding Story #3: The Wedding Toasts

One of my ladies-in-waiting has two sons whom I adore. One is 13 and the other is 16. They were ushers and escorted some of the ladies down the aisle before Dad and I walked. The 13-year-old, usually a neurotic type but who is growing up quickly, decided to give a toast for the first time - and he was terrific. He spoke simply and from the heart, and it went something like this: "I've known Caroline since I was 9, when she and my mother reunited at a high school reunion, and it's always great to see her with my mom, because she makes my mom laugh. I really like her, and I like the guy she married, and I wish her and him all my best because it makes me happy to see her happy."

I cried. He was so achingly honest, unafraid, uninhibited, and so obviously on that thin line between childhood and adulthood - it was like getting a glimpse of Future Doug.

The other memorable toast was from my college best friend. She's a wedding photographer, and she's Italian-American...so there was emotion. After some choking up, she then said that it was time to "get all Italian on Caroline's ass and do what needed to be done" - and proceeded to belt out "That's Amore". What's more, the *entire wedding crowd*, all 75 of them, stood and sang with her as they approached us while we cut the wedding cake. I will never forget being serenaded on my wedding day by all my wedding guests, who apparently knew all the words to an old Dean Martin song.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Wedding Story #4: The Flower Girl

Lilia had just turned two by the time the wedding rolled around, and she was a typical Terrible Two-sy: willful, unpredictable, and independent. So while the ceremony was going on, she was exploring down one of the hallways off the atrium where we held the ceremony.

There was a part of the ceremony where the officiant asked the wedding guests if they were willing to stand by me and Bryan and to support us in our vows, and of course everyone responded with a collective "yes".

About three seconds after the crowd said yes, we all heard a toddler echo: "yes".

 

[Dana Jean]

Wedding Story #4: The Flower Girl

Not much to say?

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Wedding prelude music:

Simple Gifts - traditional Shaker hymn; performed by Angela Kim

Portuguese Love Theme - written by Craig Armstrong; performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra

Drottningholmsmusiken: Allegro - written by Johan Helmich Roman; performed by the Drottningholms Barockensemble

A Thousand Years - written by Christina Perri & David Hodges; performed by The Piano Guys

The Rejoicing, from Music for the Royal Fireworks - written by George Friedrich Handel; performed by the Munich Symphony Orchestra

Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - written by Johann Sebastian Bach; performed by David Qualey
David Qualey / Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - YouTube

Highland Wedding - written and performed by Steve Morse
Highland Wedding - Steve Morse - YouTube

...and the processional:

Building the Barn - written by Maurice Jarre; performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Witness: Building the Barn (arr. M. Jarre for orchestra) - YouTube

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Not much to say?

It was that the echo was so audible, disembodied because she was down the hall, and obviously a mimic of what she was hearing. It was really cute.

 

[Dana Jean]

Gorgeous choices in music.

 

[Nomik]

Wow! Congratulations- keep those stories coming! I'm a hopeless romantic when I'm not a jaded cynicist. You will have a fulfilling life together; this is what life is about.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...I am entranced...now I feel as if I were able to attend....

 

[Nomik]

...I am entranced...now I feel as if I were able to attend....

Showing up is half the problem!
Wait, I mean the journey may not take you where you intend to go, but you end up sharing a perfect moment with a loved one anyway.

 

[do1you9love?]

It's traditional to do that, but I'm not fond of freezer burn. We're going to consume it on New Year's Eve.

What a lovely idea!! We ate ours on our first anniversary, but I won't claim that it was any good!

Thank you for sharing your stories and your memories. So sorry about your kitty, but it seems like there was plenty of love to be shared. The serenade made me tear up! And A Thousand Years is one of my very favorite songs. Such a lovely sound track for your special day!! Many more to come!

 

[Lily Sawyer]

When we got back to Beaufort after the honeymoon, we let the other kitty (Tip) out of his carrier, and he cried like I'd never heard him. Poor freaked-out thing: lost his sister the day before the hurricane, endured the hurricane, got shoved into a cat carrier for the first time, spent two weeks in a strange home where there were barky dogs, then got transported back to Beaufort where he still smelled his sister. He's been Velcro-kitty Lap Cat ever since, but he's slowly re-adjusted. I have felt terrible for him.

 

[Out of Order]

When we got back to Beaufort after the honeymoon, we let the other kitty (Tip) out of his carrier, and he cried like I'd never heard him. Poor freaked-out thing: lost his sister the day before the hurricane, endured the hurricane, got shoved into a cat carrier for the first time, spent two weeks in a strange home where there were barky dogs, then got transported back to Beaufort where he still smelled his sister. He's been Velcro-kitty Lap Cat ever since, but he's slowly re-adjusted. I have felt terrible for him.

Give him some wedding cake, that'll cheer him up.........

 

[Lily Sawyer]

I spent a *huge* amount of time thinking out the ceremony and prelude music. It all meant a great deal to both of us, especially Highland Wedding (my maiden name is Scottish and he's part Irish), that particular performance of Jesu, and the Swedish piece (my grandmother was Swedish). Building the Barn is also special, because it's from the movie Witness. The piece is played when the Amish community literally raises a barn for a newlywed couple, and we've felt we've built a great foundation for our marriage. Symbolism, doncha know.

 

[Lily Sawyer]

Give him some wedding cake, that'll cheer him up.........

He's back to his normal self but it's obvious he misses his sisterfriend. Once we're settled we're going to get a new friend for him. We're first getting his mother moved into assisted living (this Thursday!), then we have to deal with the house and its contents here in Beaufort. It's all complicated but in the end everything will work out.

Sunny, we will take you up on your offer. Wine and cheesecake sounds like a grand kind of diabetic coma!

 

[Lily Sawyer]

...I am entranced...now I feel as if I were able to attend....

You would have been disappointed: no cookies of any variety. Only wedding cake. (But they were wonderful - not kidding about that. Neither one was ho-hum.)

 

[Lily Sawyer]

And A Thousand Years is one of my very favorite songs.

Mine, too. I loved it when it first hit the airwaves, long before the producers of Twilight ruined it for many people. I thought it was a great song for a wedding when I first heard it. And I love the Piano Guys' cover of it.

 

[Spideyman]

Absolutely perfect! Your sharing allowed us to become part of your important day. Calming and readjustment vibes for the kitty. Always difficult when surrounds change.

 

[Out of Order]

He's back to his normal self but it's obvious he misses his sisterfriend. Once we're settled we're going to get a new friend for him. We're first getting his mother moved into assisted living (this Thursday!), then we have to deal with the house and its contents here in Beaufort. It's all complicated but in the end everything will work out.

Sunny, we will take you up on your offer. Wine and cheesecake sounds like a grand kind of diabetic coma!

Having just gone through this with both parents in the last few weeks I wish you all the best.

You did a splendid job with every facet of your wedding,

Spoiler

except no potato salad.WTF?

and all joking aside I wish you and your lucky husband many many and more years of happiness.