Wedding Day Timeline Surprises

The wedding day timeline surprises were being worked on by myself and my father-in-law.

I have heard it said, “Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”  Every life has a moment that takes our breaths away.  We all experience something that makes time stop, for just an instant, and we will never be the same after we experience the moment. It is a milestone moment in our lives.

For most people, their wedding day is one of those moments.  Another might be the birth of each of their children.  Today, I want to share one of the moments that changed my life.

The Wedding Day Plans

Your wedding day timeline is important to follow as close as possible, to keep stress levels down. My wife and her family had spent many months preparing for our wedding.  I had done my part in preparing for the honeymoon.  I had prepared mentally and done the things she had asked me to.

All the preparations that could be made had been.  The day had come and we were in the final minutes.

There were butterflies in my stomach as the ceremony began.  In traditional style, I did not see my wife the day of the wedding.  I had spent the morning preparing our home for our first night together.  My sister and her two children had spent the night with me the night before.  I was very close to my niece, and she wanted to help me prepare the house.  Most of it had already been cleaned, but there was a little bit of “straightening up” that needed to happen because of the night before.  Then we left to go to our local florist.  My niece came with me.  We purchased 6 dozen roses, of varying colors.

After purchasing the flowers, we returned to my home.  I put 2 dozen of the roses in a vase and placed it on the kitchen table.  The remaining 4 dozen roses became my project with my niece.  We tore the petals off of the flowers and began spreading them around the house.  We put them on my bed.  We put them in my bathtub, and in the shower.  We spread them on the floor in the bedroom, and kitchen.  They were everywhere.  It was romantic.  I wanted my new wife to have something extra special when she came into my home for the first time as my wife.

Behind the Scenes Fun at the Wedding

At that point, we left for the church.  I had finished dressing and all of my final preparations.  It was now about 15 minutes before our ceremony.  I could hear the musicians playing for our guests.  I had done everything I could do.  My soon-to-be-father-in-law came up to me, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and said to me, “Now, son, right now, you have a choice.  In a few minutes, after she walks down that isle, if you both say, ‘I do,’ don’t bring her back to my house!”  He paused for a few moments to let that whole thing sink in, then proceeded to say, “At that point, she is all yours!”

I laughed.  I think he could see that the tension was starting to mount and that I needed a comical moment to relieve my stress.  As a side note, the rest of the afternoon, after the ceremony, and at the reception, every time he would walk past me, he would just smile and say softly, “All yours!”  Each time he did it, it got funnier.

“She’s All Yours”

A few minutes later, I was standing at the front of the chapel and watching as my beautiful bride was being escorted by her father down the isle.  She was a radiant beauty!  I don’t think I had ever seen her quite so lovely.  The walk down the isle seemed to take an eternity.  I became more excited with each step they took.  I looked into my father-in-laws eyes and I could see a father who understood.  I could see the deep thoughts and feelings running through his heart and mind.  He was proud of his daughter.  He wasn’t sure that he wanted to let her go, but knew that she was in love with me.  While no father ever is “ready to give up his daughter,” he knew that this was her decision.

The Milestone Moment that gripped me with love.

They finally arrived at the front of the church where I was, and I heard my pastor say, “Who gives this woman away?”  I heard my brides father say, “Her mother and I.”  Then it happened.  The moment that changed my life happened.  A moment frozen in time.  It was like a time capsule moment. As I reached for my brides hand, my father-in-law reached out his hand and took mine.  I didn’t realize what was happening, so I pulled away a little.  He intentionally grabbed my hand, flipped it over, and placed it in my brides hand.  I was stunned.  It wasn’t that he simply “approved of this wedding.”  He was telling me that he genuinely wanted this to happen.  It wasn’t just that he “allowed it” but that he actually was blessing it.  He wanted her and I to be married.

I had never experienced such a powerful moment in such a simple gesture.  It was a moment that I think about even today.  It was a moment that I will never forget.

It took my breath away and I am a better man because of that one simple moment.

What milestone moments have made a great impact on your life? Comment below. We would love to hear your story too.

 

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Mark