A Wedding Disaster... Or Was It?

by Sheila Holmes

  "I told Caitlin that I would be wearing this tiara, covered in pearls and rhinestones. Daddy, she made this to match."

  It was not until this moment that Sarah actually lifted it up to examine it thoroughly. And, when she did, she and her father discovered even more "deliciousness" to it.

  Not only were there rhinestones and pearls in a stunning pattern covering the patch, but from the bottom were five extensions that hung down. Each was a chain of round pearls. The two outside chains hung about one-half inch long, with a small teardrop pearl dangling from them. The next two closest in had pearl chains about three-quarters of an inch with a slightly larger teardrop pearl at the end. But, the middle pearl chain, oh, the middle one... The middle pearl chain hung about two inches long, its length rotated between one pearl, one rhinestone, repeated back and forth until at its end, there hung a large solitary teardrop pearl, perhaps as much as one inch in length. It was clear that these extensions would have a flowing movement, hanging free from her cheek as they would.

  "Sarah, my suggestion to you is to hurry up and put it on. Because I am not hitting that button until that patch is resting on your eye."

  Sarah did not have to be persuaded. She planned to put it on whether or not her father agreed with her choice. Oh, Lord, please let Mom love this as much as Daddy and I do!

  Once the eye patch was in position and Dr. Dayton had tied the ends in the back of Sarah's head into a bow, with streamers that extended all the way to the back hem of her gown, father and daughter looked directly at each other.

  "Daddy, what do think?"

  "Sweetie, I thought you looked stunning before, but now you look absolutely regal!

  "Are you ready to do this?"

  Sarah only had time to quickly nod before her dad punched the button.

  As the organ, violin, and harp began unfolding the melody of Canon in D, Sarah thanked the Lord that He had turned a disaster so horrendous into something so beautiful. She felt no embarrassment to enter the Lord's sanctuary to wed her precious Dean, adorned by an eye covering made by a child. Her slight limp, she was sure no one would see. As for her eye patch, her dad said it made her look regal, and judging from the dropped jaws which turned to huge smiles throughout the sanctuary, everyone agreed with him.

  When they reached the first pew, Sarah turned to her mother with a question in her eyes. No words of response from Kate. Both her hands, however, flew to her heart, which she tapped repeatedly on her chest, while a smile began extending from one side of her face to the other.

  Looking confidently now to Dean as she walked the four steps up to the stage, his mouth formed only four words, "My beautiful, beautiful bride."

  Chapter 18

  KiirstiAan's email to me:

  Mom,

  Evan and I both just loved this story! It's amazing! Evan said he wouldn't believe it was true if you and Daddy hadn't actually been there. To think that nobody at the wedding knew the background of all the happenings before the day of the wedding. All they knew was what they read in the wedding program insert and then saw Sarah enter through the double doors with the eye patch on. Speaking of which, how did you know all the background things with Sarah's mom Kate, Dean, Caitlin and her mom, Jennifer?

  I gotta tell ya, if that had happened to me, I would have cancelled out the wedding so quick, it woulda made your head spin. (The Draytons would have lost beaucoup bucks if it had been cancelled. You already told me that through your searching for my wedding, all the venues have non-refundable charges after a certain amount of time.) Man, you and Dad could have paid for my whole wedding with what they woulda lost!

  Now, you knew this would happen, so let's get started with the numbered list.

  1. How is Caitlin? (If you tell me that she died, I'm just going to break down and cry.)

  2. I know this wedding has been several years back, so I'm assuming (please tell me I'm right) that Sarah's face healed up ok over time.

  3. And... I have this funny feeling you're going to tell me that Caitlin, if still living, now has an online business making bridal eye patches, or headpieces or something, so you might as well give me the web site address now. (Not, Lord willing, that I'll have a mishap like Sarah's, but at this stage, I'm thinking I need all the information I can get about wedding ideas, samples, repairs, etc.)

  Before I go on, Evan and I have this feeling like there's even more of an '... Or Was It?' to this story. (You know...even more good things coming out of this wedding disaster.)

  Actually, we both like where you ended the story, when Dean saw her at the stage and whispered about her being his "beautiful, beautiful bride." It was complete right there. And, you did share in the story that Kate's heart had changed throughout the course of events, she loved Sarah's eye patch, and apparently having Caitlin introduced into her life was worth to Sarah everything she went through.

  Just fill us in on everything we don't know about the rest of the story.

  I have some things about Even's and my wedding that I need to discuss with you. (If you're scared it involves a numbered list, be afraid, be very, very afraid!)

  P.S. I don't remember if I thanked you for my work lunch? (Did I mention that I didn't know until this week that hummus was made from ground up chickpeas?) And, oh, those wedding magazines! I've just about worn them out. They're all raggedy and have soda spills all over them. But, they sure have been fun! (My favorite gown in the whole Modern Bride magazine now has a Hershey's with Almonds candy bar stain on the model's left breast. Very classy-looking!)

  P.P.S. Look at the length of this. I've never written emails this long in my life!

  Love you!

  My email reply to KiirstiAan:

  Hey, Toots!

  I was just sitting here admiring my new wireless keyboard, and thinking how much more comfortable this one is than the one that just experienced "death by mocha latte." (I really did think that cleaning it and applying WD40 was going to be the solution.) Simultaneously, I was thinking back on the story I just finished. I realized that when I was writing about the long ribbons on the patch Caitlin gave Sarah, it made me think of something. (Don't ask me why ribbons made me think of your garter. I'm an old woman. Indulge me. Ha ha!)

  You told me a few days ago that you weren't going to have Evan remove your garter during the reception, even though you do plan to wear one, just because wearing one is traditional.

  I got to thinking. And, it's only a thought.

  You've been trying to come up with a way to give your purity ring to him. Maybe you'll like this idea.

  What if you remove the "flowery thingie" from the garter (when you shop for one you'll see there always is one!) and hand stitch on your purity ring in its place. Then, put it into an envelope along with a small handwritten note (or you could even have it printed out on one of those diy printers in the stationery stores) that thanks Evan for helping you during your time together to remain chaste until your wedding day. Maybe tell him in it that "As of this day, this and I both belong in your safe-keeping" (or something like that).

  Give the envelope to Jonathan. When he gives the best man's toast at the dinner, he can say that you sent it to Evan with the instructions that he is to read its contents and show everyone the garter after the reception dinner.

  He gets his garter and you and he have just shared that purity is possible, even in the twenty-first century.

  Anyway, it's just a possibility.

  My email to KiirstiAan:

  I think our emails must have passed each other in cyberspace.

  While I'm waiting for your response to the purity ring thing, I'll address the stuff in your email.

  1 and 3 kind of go together.

  Yes, Caitlin is still alive. Her hair has grown back and looks beautiful. It hangs down her back, but honestly, that's about the only good news. They are "guardedly optimistic" (that hateful phrase, although it does hold some needed hope). She has some days she feels pretty good, but most days not so much. Her parents took her out
of school and she has been home-schooled for the last two years.

  Now for the positive part.

  Caitlin knows firsthand how horrible cancer is. But, rather than spending her time feeling sorry for herself, she decided to do something about it.

  The night of Sarah's wedding, almost everyone asked where in the world she had gotten that eye patch. By the next day, Jennifer had gotten a massive amount of calls about Caitlin's eye patches, and inquiries as to whether she made any other "blingy" things.

  I don't know all the details, but apparently Caitlin does have an online business making beautiful pouches, hair ribbons, headbands, chokers, bracelets and some other stuff I can't remember.

  But, here's the kicker. Seventy-five percent of the profit goes to cancer research, while the remaining twenty-five percent goes to inventory, postage, business paperwork and whatever else needed to run the business. More precisely, just business expenses.

  I actually read a human interest piece online recently about her. It told all about her business. In the last three years, Caitlin has given almost twenty-five thousand dollars to cancer research. And, apparently since the online article, she's had calls and emails from people wanting to contribute by placing inordinately large orders for her pretty things. And, I guess, several young kids also struggling with cancer are meeting with her to consider contributing their little designs (earrings and some other things my pitiful mind can't remember).

  If you want to, you can Google Caitlin's Cancer Crusher. The campaign isn't named anything sophisticated or exotic, but Jennifer let Caitlin name it herself, and according to the article, that's exactly what Caitlin's hoping her business will do... crush cancer. When you find the website, let me know what it's like. I haven't been there.

  Oh, yeah... Sarah's face.

  It healed, but not until after a small plastic surgery procedure. I guess the two stitches in the soft tissue below her eye were puckering kind of weird, so they corrected that. Now she's fine, and, incidentally, she and Dean are expecting their first baby. Don't know any details of it at all, so don't bother asking. But, I'm so excited for them!

  Listen, gotta run. Much to do today (well, what's left of today). I have an appointment later today. Don't ask what it's about, because I don't know if I told you or not, but my daughter is getting married and she's leaving the whole wedding-planning to me. Go figure!

  L8R

  KiirstiAan's email to me:

  Just a quick note about Jeffrey Avenue Baptist. Don't bother going to look at it. I did that with Evan.

  While it probably would have been a great location for Chelsea's wedding, it isn't what the two of us want.

  The whole time I was looking around inside, I kept thinking, "Barn-Raising." It was sooo rustic! The sanctuary seating was made up of rummage sale chairs. I don't think there were more than three chairs in the whole place that matched. Most all of them were old, old, old (not to be confused with vintage). They were battered and the few I sat down in not only creaked, but wobbled. There were even a small number of rocking chairs.

  Also, they only had a piano, and it wasn't in great shape. Plus, it needed tuning desperately. I didn't even ask if it could be tuned, though, because we prefer an organ.

  I did ask, however, if we could use birdseed packets out front for showering the bride and groom. He was sweet, but said that the parishioner who does the grounds-keeping (and I use that term loosely), only works twice monthly. When I couldn't give him a date for the wedding yet, he couldn't say if the weekend of our wedding would allow for the cleanup, so he probably should just say not to count on it. He did say we could use hand-held bubble blowers, though. But, I don't think that's what we want. Or is it? Oh... I don't know. I'm so confused. See why I'm leaving it up to you?!

  Funny thing is, we asked him so many questions, that I'm sure he thought we were a sure deal, when in reality we both knew from the moment we entered the front doors that this place wasn't for us.

  Actually, you would have loved that moment, Mom.

  The pastor opened the doors and we followed him in. Practically the second we crossed the threshold, we stopped, slowly turned our faces to each other, and just stared at each other for a couple seconds. Not a word spoken. Those two seconds said it all.

  However, there was a certain country charm to the place, just not refined enough for our English Country Garden wedding.

  You can go ahead and check out Christ Covenant, though. We haven't looked at it yet.

  Talk to ya later.

  Oh, wait... I never responded to your purity ring idea.

  I luv it! I also had an idea or two. We'll compare notes later. Maybe we can combine some of our two ideas and come up with a purity ring/garter/anything else hybrid of our own.

  P.S. Have you noticed that for leaving the entire planning up to you, that I'm sure giving a considerable amount of input?!

  This is the part where if you gave me any grief over my ideas, I'd say something about it being my wedding. Thank you for your patience, Mommy!

  LUV U

  KiirstiAan's email to me:

  Ok... Where to begin with Evan's and my wedding stuff?

  This may or may not be in any particular order. I think what I'll do is just number each item as I have them written down on my list. (A numbered list? Really? What a shocker coming from me, huh?)

  1. Venue? I remember thinking that you are having to coordinate two venues, one for the wedding and one for the reception. Just wondering if you've come any closer. You haven't said anything much about that. I know that you won't be going to check out Jeffrey Avenue Baptist, but wondered if anywhere else has presented itself.

  2. I know you purchased a whole mess of that 'twool' on Thursday (what Chelsea's old country lady called it). I couldn't believe you bought all those bolts. With that amount of tulle you could cover an entire church building. My intention was to ask how you think you're gonna use it, but since we don't even have the venues nailed down, you probably don't know yourself. All I know is judging from the amount alone, I know our wedding is going to be so romantic looking. (I looove tulle!)

  3. Evan and I decided that we want the entire wedding to be in blue. Anywhere from light to medium, or a mixture of shades and tints. No particular styles in mind for my attendants, flower girl, or you, Mom. Just whatever you think is most lovely with my gown and the theme. (BTW, you know when I say 'the entire wedding', you know that I'm talking about dresses, not the flowers, right?)

  4. What kind of headpiece do you think would be best with my wedding gown? I've been thinking about it ever since I read that Sarah wore a tiara. (I don't think I've ever been to a wedding where the bride wore anything but a veil. I think they were just attached to a comb.) And, as I've said before... I'm so confused! This is another one of those things I think I'll need to leave to you.

  5. This one I saved until last, because I have so much to say about it. I am so excited with the mid-calf lace Victorian boots you got me from Andriana's Bridal when we went out Saturday. I had my heart dead set against them when you first suggested them. I always thought of them as being kinda frumpy. I always pictured myself in a strappy three-inch heel that looked very girlie. Because Evan is so tall, I knew I could get away with something really high.

  But, when you pointed out those boots, it was like a flash of light. I realized immediately that if we're trying to pull off an English Country Garden theme, then I really wanted something that looked like it would really be worn in a garden during the Victorian era. And, as you pointed out, because the heel is only one and one-half inches high, and is kinda squatty in shape, I would be much less likely to slip during the walk up the aisle or going up and down the steps in the front of the church sanctuary. (I guess I'm making assumptions about the church, when we won't know for sure until we lock down the venue, huh?)

  Continuing with my assumption about there being steps, since the dress is all the way to the floor, no one will even see my feet until I lift my skirt and walk down t
he steps after the ceremony. What a shocker! I don't think anyone will expect my Victorian boots. I have never been to a wedding where the bride has worn anything like them.

  This is just so exciting, I can't stand it!

  Mom, thank you for the suggestion. I just love your vision of this wedding. I'm so blessed to have you as my wedding planner.

  BTW... As my wedding planner, you should know that you are to spare no expense in making this the most gorgeous wedding that ever was or ever will be experienced on this side of heaven! Ha ha!

  Mommy, you rock!

  My email reply to KiirstiAan:

  I looked back over your email about the Jeffrey Avenue Baptist Church.

  I had already dropped by there before you emailed me.

  If you remember, on Saturday while we were out, you said that I didn't need to check in with you on any church or reception venue decisions. Because your engagement period is so short, you knew that I needed to be able to make immediate choices on the venues, without wasting time consulting, during which we might lose out on the place altogether. Remember?

  Based on that, I checked out both churches. Jeffrey Avenue was, like you say, just too rustic. I agree.

  I called Christ Covenant Church. They set up an appointment for me after work yesterday. But, before we even went into the sanctuary, the pastor's secretary asked how long we'd been attending there. When I told her we didn't attend there at all, she said she was so sorry, but they only marry couples that go there. They don't have to be members, but must have attended regularly for a minimum of six months prior to the wedding date. Seeing as how you will be engaged only three months total before the wedding, that place is out.

  But, as I said before, don't panic. If I'm not nervous, you don't need to be.

  In fact, don't be nervous about anything related to the wedding planning until I tell you it's time to be nervous.

  Fair enough?!

  K

  C4N

  KiirstiAan's email reply to me:

  C4N???

  My email reply to KiirstiAan:

  Ciao for now. (I was feeling continental.)

  When I was looking up how to say goodbye in Italian, I got on a site that showed the hand signs for hello and goodbye. They're exactly the opposite of ours. You wave American goodbye for Italian hello, and American hello for Italian goodbye. (Could that possibly be right?) Very bazaar.