Sixteen years ago this June, my husband and I planned our ideal wedding. We wanted a small, outdoor ceremony in a garden, followed by a reception in a cozy tea room at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
But when we woke up on our wedding day, it was about 40 degrees and raining. The musicians we hired couldn’t play outside, and I worried about our guests sitting outdoors in cold rain. Luckily, the venue was able to move us inside. My husband-to-be and I lamented the bad weather at our favorite breakfast spot that morning, and then decided to be happy for the rest of the day.
As the time came for me to walk down the aisle, my dad broke the news that our officiant was stuck in traffic and hadn’t arrived, but the wedding coordinator had located an officiant from another wedding who was willing to pop over and marry us. Luckily, our officiant did arrive in time to perform the ceremony, but I was so grateful that I didn’t need to worry because there was a professional troubleshooting for me.
And we did end up being happy for the rest of our wedding day. Our photographer was still able to get some beautiful photos in the gardens, our chocolate wedding cake was delicious and the musicians sounded great indoors. Best of all, I ended the day married to a man who has proven to be a great partner—even when life doesn’t go as planned.
Putting together our first wedding issue has brought up all these wedding memories for me. While it was fun researching current trends in weddings, one thing I learned on my big day remains true: There’s no such thing as a wedding day that goes according to plan, so make sure to surround yourself with people who will make the day great no matter what. I’m sure you’ll find some of those people in our pages this month.
