The plan for Becca and Chris’s wedding was a great one. Hold an outdoor ceremony at a beautiful location during a perfect New England autumn afternoon. After all, the weather during early October is about as nice as it gets — still warm and pleasant and very little rain. And we all know, it’s NEVER unpredictable.
At least that was the theory. Things turned from promising to pretty dreary in a matter of a few days. Instead of the perfect fall conditions, rain and drizzle moved in and it looked like the planned outdoor ceremony would have to be changed. All in all this wasn’t a bad thing, since plan “B” was well established — the main room at Sterling National can accommodate an indoor ceremony. The staff had things well under control in transitioning from a dinner setup when, just 25 minutes before the formalities were to begin, there was a very small break in the weather and just a glimmer of hope that getting married outside was still a possibility. One small challenge was that NOTHING was set up in the original location because of the wet conditions. No chairs, no flowers, no sound (did I mention that I had the responsibility for sound at the ceremony?) But the thing that overrode all of that was the “can do” attitude of everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, involved in the process. If I hadn’t been so busy scrambling to set up my small sound system in record time, it would have been wonderful to just sit back and watch an entire crew quickly and confidently make things happen. I can’t think of a time when I was so impressed watching a group work so well as a team. Of special note, and worthy of special comment, was the event manager, Ally Wood. Ally’s cool under pressure was extraordinary and her willingness to, quite literally, get her hands dirty along with everyone else won my respect.
The resulting ceremony went off without a hitch. Becca was gorgeous in her gown and she and Chris seemed truly happy and pleased that they were able to have things the way they had originally envisioned it. The guests were just fabulous, seemingly unconcerned with the slightly damp conditions and sharing in the celebration. As is usually the case when there is a shared challenge, it seemed to crank the party atmosphere into a slightly higher gear when that time of the evening rolled around. The energy level could not have been higher and I think that just about everyone took a turn on the dance floor.
Becca and Chris were as fun a couple as I could have hoped for and I wish them the best. They have a new marriage and a new home. What’s the big deal about a bit of rain to make things a little interesting?
