Saturday September 14th 2019 is my favourite day ever. It is the day my husband (that is so weird to say) and I got married in front of 100 of our closest family and friends. It was the most perfect day. The ceremony was personal and beautiful, the food was delicious, the scenery was picture perfect, the DJ was incredible and had all the guests dancing all night long. It was so much fun and I wouldn’t have changed a thing, but let’s rewind to just before the wedding when I was panicked and told my mom I just wanted to cancel the whole thing.
What went wrong?!
Here is an order of events of everything that went “wrong” leading up to the wedding:
- 5 weeks out our wedding venue (Sea to Sky Gondola) was sabotaged and we had to find a brand new wedding venue in just a few weeks.
- A week leading up to the wedding the head meteorologist at the company I work for (the Weather Network) informed me it was going to rain for our wedding.
- A few days prior it was calling for 100% rain, and not just rain but the entirely monthly average for September in one day.
- 3 days before the wedding and I was sick as a dog.
- 2 days before the wedding one of my closest friends couldn’t get on her flight and had to cancel her trip.
- The day of the wedding pouring rain, still sick, and the mother of the groom ended up at the wrong wedding venue. Our wedding started an hour late because of this.
Leading up to the wedding I cried, I cried a lot. I was stressed out and I took it all out on my partner. We had screaming matches, we yelled that we should just call things off. It wasn’t fun. This was supposed to be the happiest time of, but we were both exhausted, stressed, and frankly miserable.
We had to have several talks with one another to remind ourselves that this wasn’t about a venue, or weather, it was about sharing our love with the people we love most. That made things a little bit easier to accept and finally at the rehearsal dinner I started to relaxing a little and just realize what ever was going to happen was going to happen on the day of the wedding.
The Wedding Day
The wedding day came and I walked off the bus to share the first look with my partner, and it seemed like the world stopped spinning. My vail was soaked from the rain, the train of my dress brown from the dirt, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was that today we were going to commit to forever with each other and start this new chapter in our lives because we love each other.
Despite everything that went “wrong” leading up to the event, our wedding was perfect. I wouldn’t have traded in a second of the day for better weather or for our original venue. This wedding was our perfect wedding.
Looking back on it all now, I realized I was truly panicked and stressed for no apparent reason. I couldn’t control the rain, but I could control my attitude towards it and honestly that is my only regret, I wish I had enjoyed the days leading up to the wedding a little more.
So from this veteran bride (of four days) I wanted to offer a piece of advice to any future brides while it is fresh in my mind. Just live in the moment, relax, and realize that everything is going to be just fine. In fact it will be better than fine, it will be perfect.
Your guests aren’t going to remember bad weather or the ceremony starting late. They are going to remember the love you shared with your husband or wife on this special day.
You can’t change things leading up to the big day, but you can trust the process and realize that at the end of the day the small details are just that, small. Looking back you won’t remember the things that didn’t go according to plan, you will remember the fun, the laughs, the tears, and the love.
Trust me, I know that all this is easier said than done. In fact I kept saying it leading up to the wedding. But if you can find the moment to breathe and let yourself know that everything is going to be beautiful no matter what challenges you face, then you will be able to just enjoy every moment from the lead up to the morning after.
Plus as I learned, rainy weather makes for better photos anyway.
Wishing all my beautiful brides the most perfect wedding day!
xo
Mia
P.S. all photos taken by our amazing photographer Taylor Roades
