Since I mention fairy tales in this blog on occasion, I want to share a modern day fairy tale. I have told this story a hundred times over so I wanted to have record of it to share.
That being said, Christmas weekend I was on the 'behind the scenes' making of a fairy tale. This Christmas Eve, 2011, my family and my sister's fiance surprised her with a wedding!
On December 5th, my mother sent a message to my sister's fiance, Luke, asking his thoughts on a surprise wedding for him and my sister, Lauren. Luke, the sweetheart that he is, was on board for this crazy idea and wanted to make it happen! They called me and we began planning.
Because everyone was so busy, planning was very difficult. My mother owns her own jewelry store where she crafts, designs, and re-purposes all types of jewelry. Christmas is not exactly the best time for her to focus her attention outside of the store. Our sweet Luke works hours and hours a week in retail while also going to school so again Christmas time is not opportune for planning an event such as a wedding.
December 14th was the first time we were able to get any concrete plans set. Luke and I had a thirty minute conversation over the phone while he shooed my sister out of the room he occupied at their apartment. Finally, we were able to discuss the details. Tears streamed down my face as he talked about how much my sister deserved a perfect day. How lucky is she? I thought, to find someone who realizes what a precious soul she is and how much she deserves something worthwhile and lasting -beginning with a surprise, fairy tale wedding.
You see, things in their relationship hadn't worked out quite how they had planned in the beginning. After several years of being friends, they decided to date. Over the summer, Luke and Lauren found out they were going to be parents. (Surprises seem to be a theme for them in 2011.) Though things were off to a rough start, they made a choice not to look back, only to look forward.
I admire this decision.
For months they've been planning for our little girl to arrive. Choosing a name was NOT one of the easiest tasks our family has encountered, but after much deliberation and dictionary usage, finally a name was chosen for our little angel: Hadley Sophia.
Because working and planning for Hadley became the priority, and rightfully so, Luke and Lauren placed their dream wedding to the side and decided to tackle becoming good parents first. Instead of traditional vows, Hadley would be their vow to each other until time allowed to make their big day possible. Little did Lauren know that day would be sooner rather than later.
The week of the wedding comes and I'm all in a tizzy with tying up loose ends and waiting for Luke and my mom return my phone calls. This my friends, was a feat all of its own. Things were kind of a blur between working full time, getting ready for Christmas and trying to plan a dream wedding from someone else's perspective. Even though it hasn't yet been a month, I can't remember all of the details, save this one:
Isn't there always something that goes awry in the plot of unfolding fairy tales?
Wednesday, December 21st I was traveling out of town. My boyfriend's dad was having surgery, and I was hurrying from work to be at the hospital. At some point towards the end of my two hour drive, wedding complication #1 arose: location. The venue we were planning to use does not 'allow' weddings. (It's a small public PARK, people.) So here I am avoiding the hospital parking garage, which screams no cell service, calling everyone I know to help devise Plan B.
Eventually, I have to stop circling the parking garage... so I walk into the hospital with my boyfriend, a slight heart attack, and no one to help reverse this disaster waiting to happen.
No location. No wedding. Not an option.
A few hours later I escape downstairs to check my phone. There is one message:
I called the Mayor. We have the park and blessings from him.
A dear friend and angel had taken it upon herself to save the day by calling the Mayor to straighten the situation out. So in short, I finally took a breath. We could have the wedding!To be continued...
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