Wednesday, May 5, 2010

One Angry Volcano = A Big Silver Lining

I’ve done my best to stay upbeat and positive while planning our wedding, not letting the occasional snags and bumps in the road get me down. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have my moments of anger and frustration. Hey, as much as I enjoy wedding planning, I’m still human!

Computer glitches and printing problems? It’s Stephen to the rescue, because I have no patience for those types of hang-ups. Stress eating? Some days, it’s really hard to just walk away from the cookie jar. And the one thing that's had me most worried, aside from my gown not being ready on time? Our ceremony music.


You see, my bridesmaid and cantor Gianna lives in Germany, and will only arrive for the wedding a week ahead of time. Our church’s music director won't be available for the rehearsal, and won't have time to meet with Gianna in the week prior to the wedding. His suggestion? Meeting with her about 45 minutes before the ceremony begins to discuss the songs, which verses will be sung, which key they will be sung in, and so on.

Now, while both of them are experienced musicians, with Gianna having sung in church for many years, I was seriously stunned upon hearing this plan. With all the hectic goings-on of the wedding day, from photo sessions to last minute preparations, would the two of them really be able to make it through a practice session with less than an hour to go? I had my doubts, but finally decided there was nothing more I could do about it. If things went wrong, I was simply out of luck.


Enter the volcano in Iceland, which stranded thousands and made travel to Europe a nightmare for weeks. One of those wayward travelers? Gianna, who was out in California visiting her family when the erruption occurred. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, she and our music director could meet during the extra days she would be stuck. I sent Gianna an email about it, and guess what? She had already gone ahead and scheduled a meeting on her own!

Way to go, girl! The two of them met, ran through all the songs, and even reviewed copies of our program and processional/recessional outline. All I can say is, what a relief! That is, for us, anyway, because I’m sure tons of other poor travelers would completely disagree!

Is there a certain part of the wedding you’re worried about that just doesn’t seem to be coming together? Did you ever think something wouldn’t work out the way you'd hoped, but then in the end, it did?

(Photo & Graphic Credits: USA Today & Google Images)

9 comments:

  1. Right now we can't seem to get our effin programs to print on our printer. It printed like 3 pages and then just stopped. It would pull the paper through, make the printing sound but wouldn't actually print (we have plenty of ink). I'm seriously about to lose my mind and just say screw having programs. Ugh.

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  2. That's great that your cantor made the most of her extra time in the States, and that you can now feel comfortable and relaxed about this detail. I am trying to stay positive with some of the things that have gone sideways for us, but every now and then it's hard. You're not alone!

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  3. That was so great of her! So nice when you have people like that to work with! We had such issues with our venue initially. I'm sure there will be more bumps along the way

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  4. I am so happy to hear it worked out for you! I had many things that I was worried about and I learned to stop trying to control everything and let others help me. Plus, once the wedding starts, it isn't even as important anymore.

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  5. OH WOW! I'm so glad it worked out! Before I read that last part I was gonna suggest a tele-conference or something!!!

    Yikes!

    June huh? How's it going?
    -Kelley

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  6. was just reading what SG wrote..., about the F-ing programs!!! my wedding was 11 days after September 11th, 2001...

    I couldn't print my program until I knew if my friend (who I asked to do a reading at the church) could make it from Missouri to Rhode Island!!!

    And, come to think of it, the programs might have been one of the biggest points of stress!

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  7. Wow, Kelley! That must have been so stressful for you! Other than my dress not being in yet, things are going great! We’ve got everything else done! :)

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  8. Glad some good came of the volcano! We got stuck in the Maldives on honeymoon which wasn't bad!

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