Scott and I had a very interesting day!!! Most people have one or two crazy things happen on their wedding day, we were no exception.
Expecting our wedding party to help with the decorating and set up of the church only to find out, that morning, that they had spent the night at a theme park and were all sleeping in definitely caused some stress. Scott with his mom and step dad and I went to the church and did all the decorating ourselves. I was able to make it back home with enough time to grab my dress and head back to the church. No shower. No special hairdo. And fake fingernails that kept popping off.
I wasn't sure what to expect for the ceremony but in spite of the crazy morning things went pretty well. Even when the flower girl twisted and turned and swung her basket through the ceremony. I guess totally losing control of my emotions and crying through our vows, which in turn made people in the auditorium and some of the wedding party cry too doesn't seem as horrible today as it did back then. The pictures turned out great but we can't hear the ceremony on the audio tape...must have been the firetrucks with sirens on driving by outside.
Although simple, our reception was really nice! I definitely enjoyed the portion of the cake Scott fed me. And seeing all my family and friends in one place was wonderful. That was actually the most normal part of our day.
As a wedding gift, Scott's brother gave us a limo ride to LAX international airport to catch our plane to Miami. Here's where things get really wacky.
Shortly after arriving home the limo driver called to see if he could show up late. As it was we had enough time to make it there, barring any problems, with two hours to spare. Now, if you will, picture me standing beside my new husband vigorously shaking my head, while my very gracious husband agrees to the delay. Here is where the soft sweet melodious music changes to something, well, a little more strained.
The music begins to gain momentum as the promised limo driver doesn't show at the newly appointed time. Then when the very late driver finally shows he is surprised to see us walking towards the limo with no luggage. Evidently it didn't occur to him that it was his job to carry our bags. Nor did he think we would smell the lingering odor of vomit in the limo.
Finally on our way...and did I mention we were late?...we get about 45 minutes into our trip when I hear an explosion. Picture me giving myself whiplash as I turn towards Scott and ask, "WHAT was that?" But I didn't have to wait for him to answer because the driver decided to pull over. (You are hearing the music, right?) But he doesn't pull over in a normal spot he decides to park in the triangular area of an off ramp and an on ramp.
He gets out of the limo and heads to the trunk. At the same time Scott gets out of the limo to help him. It turned out there was nothing to help him with because the spare was flat too. So he says he would use his cell phone to call the office but...oh, you're not going to believe this...it was dead!!! AHHHHHHH!
So I think, "Ok, at least there is an emergency phone on the freeway that he can use." Just then he says he's going to go call for help. However he doesn't head for the emergency phone just yards behind the limo, he runs off the freeway and disappears into a shopping complex. Thankfully, he left the limo running because though it was October it was still in the 80's and the air was nice.
Shortly after Mr. Chauffeur runs away, the CHP (California Highway Patrol) shows up. Boy was I relieved!!! The relief lasted a mere moment because Mr. CHP tells us, "I would call AAA but because the limo is parked illegally they cannot help because they would be blocking the on/off ramp to the freeway! And I can't help because it would endanger my life. But if the limo can be moved." Now picture, if you will, that at that moment the limo died because the alternator went bad. Maybe we didn't need the air after all because it was getting awfully chilly in that limo, if you get my drift. :-)
Finally, Mr. Chauffeur returns to tell us a new limo will be there in a few mintues. But was coming from a town 45 mins away, hmmm. Now I'm thinking...um, sorry, Mr. Chauffeur we don't have any extra time because the extra time we did have is already gone and if we don't leave NOW we won't make our plane.
Suddenly a limo appears on the horizon of the opposite side of the freeway. Mr. Chauffeur begins frantically waving his hands like someone stranded awaiting rescue. I'm sure he was hoping to be rescued from me. The limo driver on the other side of the freeway sees this and takes the next exit to come to our rescue.
Though not the replacment driver, and with another company, this driver agrees to take us to the airport. My frustration turned to fear as the speedometer hit 90 mph and the driver was whipping in and out of the heavy Los Angeles traffic. Knowing we likely would miss our plane he allowed us to use his cell phone to call the airlines. Unfortunately they couldn't hold the plane for us.
While making conversation with us the new driver asks us about Mr. Chaffuer and how we ended up in the present predicament. He then tells us that Mr. Chaffuer would have needed to drop us off in the parking garage because he didn't have the needed permit to drop us off at the departures area. Hmmm.
Once we arrived at the airport we needed to re-book our flight for a red eye. What was a non-stop flight to Miami, was changed to a lay over flight through Dallas. Oh, I forgot to mention that we were taking a cruise and if we weren't on the ship when it left, then, well, we would miss the boat...literally. And at this point I'm thinking we've missed the boat and our money was wasted.
Thankfully, though, we did make the ship...but barely. The honeymoon cruise through the Bajamas was well worth the money. During the cruise we get a phone call from Scott's mom to let us know that the limo company wants to pick us up from the airport. Now remember that they can't pick us up at the gate, and picture a younger me once again shaking her head while her younger husband says the dreaded word, "Ok!"
Now the trip home is a whole other story, though I think that's for another blog post, after all it is Sunday and I need my afternoon nap.
2 comments:
With a honeymoon like that, I would think that the last 17 yrs. would have been smooth sailing. Thanks for the great story!! Happy Bday & Happy Anniversary.
This is hilarious. (Only now, though... If I'd known you back then, I would have felt very sorry for you!) We had firetrucks drive by our ceremony, too, but they stopped. No one was appointed to blow out the candles, so they burnt down and set some of the flowers on fire and filled the auditorium with smoke. The firetrucks made a great backdrop for our photos, though. ;)
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