Behind the Scene Stories

week of wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Let me give you some background to set the tone of these stories.  If you have seen Brave, then you have seen my daughter.  The daughter in Brave is like my Nicole....give her rules and she will find her own way of getting around them.  She would also compete any day with the boys and probably win. That being said, here are the stories behind the scene....as we all said, "In Totally Nicole Style"

My daughter was in total control over her wedding planning. I was the labor with the duct tape over my mouth and my own hidden time table.  So in Totally Nicole Style, I found myself in the front seat of her small car speeding across the Metroplex on Friday, late afternoon, the last work day before the wedding on Sunday.   She was on  the phone...yes, putting her own mother's life in danger, while moving in and out of traffic to get to the wholesale flower store.  We were to pick up all the roses that "Ethel" and I would be using to create the bouquets and boutonnieres for the wedding.  The place closed at 3 and it was already after 1....yes, too close for my comfort zone, yet a wonderful challenge for my daughter.  As we were driving, she and hubby-to-be were discussing their to-do list.... the marriage license was next.


WHAT?? MARRIAGE LICENSE HASN'T BEEN APPLIED FOR YET?!?!   I could just feel my anxiety swell up and then I started to giggle inside.  Oh this would be sooooooooooooooo like her.  I listened as he discussed that they just need to marry within 72 hours of getting the licence   I knew better...it wasn't get married within 72 hours, it was a waiting period of 72 hours BEFORE getting married!!!!!!!!  Now this conversation was going back and forth at 2:30 on Friday afternoon.  He calls the courthouse....they close at 4 o'clock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They dropped me off with all the flowers to run to the courthouse...the time was close to 3!  I got into my car just knowing that this story wasn't at an end... what they thought and what I knew were two different things.  I had a Chesshire-cat-grin on my face as I  drove home..............we all might be at the courthouse on Tuesday, but this wedding was still going to happen.

picture at courthouse

A few minutes after 4 pm, my future son-in-law calls to tell the story...he won't allow my daughter to tell it.  Yes, it was as I said...72-hour wait.  My daughter had almost lost it.  Then in a last minute save, he asked about a military waiver!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES, YOU READ IT RIGHT!  They were given their marriage licence with a military waiver....so Sunday would be both the wedding AND the marriage on the same day.....what a close save!!

The other thing going through my head was my daughter's command to have her ring cleaned before the ceremony on Sunday.  So hubby-to-be needed to add one more thing to his list.

Wedding day comes....all the nervous and anxious feelings that come with a wedding were flowing.  My daughter giggled and got a little sharp with her mouth.  My future son-in-law got quiet and more sentimental.   We came to the last detail of the day.  Rings were to be tied onto the Bible my future son-in-law had used in his proposal to our daughter.  Benjamin would have the honor of carrying rings and handing them to the pastor for the ring exchange.  We put the groom's ring on the Bible and waited for the wedding assistant to retrieve the bride's ring.

She comes in and looks Nicole in the face and very sweetly says, "well, Nicole... there is just one little problem, but we have it worked out.  Michael forgot your ring, but we have one that looks like it we can use today.  There just won't be any ring pictures today."

This is me in the left hand corner!!  

I was behind her when she got this message.  I said, "no, hold on."  I pulled my wedding ring of 33 years off my finger and slipped it onto my daughter's hand...a GREAT fit!  We tied my ring onto the Bible.

My daughter was married with my wedding ring!

She facebooked and instagrammed their wedding pictures the following morning.  Beautiful!

We didn't take any pictures with my ring on her hand.

There was just something so special to this little forgotten thing.  I felt funny without my ring all through the reception...while grinning that my only daughter married with my ring.

As they drove off in a vintage car....I forgot to get it back!!!  So instead of zero conversation the following day, we were arranging how I would retrieve my ring before they left for their honeymoon.

Now if two stories weren't enough, there just had to be one last one as a great ending.

To save you from all the details.............they only escaped about 1 mile from the wedding venue when they ran out of GAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  In Marine style, he got out of the car with a grin.

All the wonderful stories and at the end of the day they were Mr. and Mrs.!

ps for a future blog: My grandmommy visit was the greatest!!!  I can't wait to have more time to get to know my first grandchild....a two-year-old precious, little boy!