Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Part I: With This Rain, I Thee Wed

It was the most beautiful early spring day in my sweet hometown of Crockett, Texas when Chris dropped to one knee and asked "will you marry me?!" And so it all begins....

The date was set for September 14, 2013 at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. Chris had vacationed there most of his life and when we went to visit I fell in love. It was picturesque, different, and a place we believed our guests would remember forever. We made several trips to Estes throughout the planning process. Yes, planning a destination wedding is as difficult as you can imagine. Lucky for me I had my amazing mother who was on top of it all. She even discovered that our hometown dentist has a daughter-in-law, Rami Carter, living in Denver who happens to be a wedding planner! We were able to quickly snatch her up and from that point on things seemed to just be falling into place…or so we thought.

Finally wedding week was here! All the final details had been completed and Mom and I could not have been more excited! We loaded up the Winnebago full of everything we couldn’t take on the plane with us which consisted of the wedding dress, tuxedos, wedding rings, boots, and then my parents hit the road. They drove from Texas to Denver and made it to Estes late Tuesday night around 10:00 pm. They had rented a cabin for the week at Aspen Brook Vacation Homes. It was a beautiful cabin located only a few feet from the Big Thompson River. It was pouring down rain when they arrived but that did not stop the property manager from calling my parents and forcing them to remove the Winnebago from the premises. They begged and pleaded with him which only seemed to ignite his anger. With nowhere else to go they parked the RV at Chris' family cabin 7 miles up the mountain with plans to go up and get our belongings the next day.

The weather forecast showed 20% chance of rain for the weekend which was not the news I wanted to hear, however, there is always a plan B for weddings and we had ideas for what we would do if we were rained out. Chris and I flew up Wednesday and the guys had plans for his bachelor party that night.

The guy’s cabin was located on the beautiful Estes Park Golf Course. Chris spent that day and night with the guys and I stayed at my parent’s cabin drinking champagne with my mom and future sister-in-law.  The  rain really started to pick up over night and by the time morning came the Big Thompson river that was once a few feet away from our cabin was now nearly to the door. They were advising residents to evacuate and from that point on all cell service was down. We decided to pack up all of our stuff and head to some friends of ours, Mr. and Mrs. Larue, who have a condo up the mountain.

I hadn't talked or seen Chris since the day before and I was really beginning to worry. Roads were washing away which made it difficult to drive. Finally late Thursday afternoon Chris walked in the door of the condo. All the electricity was off at their cabin and the roads had all washed away. The guys were trapped in their cabin with no more food or a way to drive out.

At that point I still had a great deal of hope. I believed there was still enough time for the storm to pass before Saturday and can remember telling myself "well it can't get any worse" and boy was I wrong. For the rest of that night and all day Friday we sat in our friend’s condo and waited as the town of Estes flooded our dreams of any wedding that weekend.


By Friday the whole town was under water. All roads into and out of Estes Park had been washed away by raging waters leaving us trapped in and the rest of our family, bridesmaids, vendors, and friends stuck in Denver.

It felt very much like I was in a bad dream....a nightmare. No way was this really happening. I could not get out of my head the words that were spoken over and over again on the news. "Biblical flood…500 year flood.” By Friday evening we got word that the town of Estes Park had cancelled all weddings for the weekend. At that point, Chris and I wanted nothing more
than to be married and out of Estes Park.

I have always believed that a bad situation can be altered by the way you choose to react to it. I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself and I prayed a lot for God's strength and understanding. Friday night was rehearsal dinner night. We decided to gather up everyone who was in Estes and head on over to the restaurant as planned. The road up the mountain to the RV had washed away as well so my family could not get to their clothes. We all decided to throw on what belongings we did have with us and head to the restaurant.

When we got there Chris' mom and close friend, Mrs. Gayler, had done an amazing job of making it look just as planned. They made beautiful flower arrangements from flowers they bought at Safeway. We all ate dinner and watched the slide show of pictures from when Chris and I were little. I can't tell you how hard it was to watch that slideshow with none of my friends there to laugh with me.  But Chris and I decided that night we were not leaving without being married. After dinner my mom and Chris' grandmother, Dee, searched the town for any pastor willing to marry us. They discovered that all churches were evacuation centers so there was no luck in finding a church to get married in the next day. By the grace of God we found Bill Huth. Bill is a pastor in Estes Park who's mother just so happens to live in Nacogdoches, TX which is where we are from. We later discovered that Bill's wife, Linda, graduated high school with my father in Crockett, TX. It really is amazing how God does it. Mr. Huth agreed to marry us the next day at the Estes Park Resort on the Lake.

It was Saturday, wedding day. All the roads were still closed and we still could not drive up the mountain to where the RV was parked. My brother, his fiancé, and my father-in-law offered to hike up the mountain to get our wedding rings so we could have them for the ceremony. I decided not to try to wear my wedding dress. It would have been too difficult for them to hike 4 miles down the mountain in the rain and flooded waters with a white wedding dress! Luckily my mom and I found a bridal shop that was open while the others were hiking up the mountain. She let us in and I found a beautiful dress that suited the situation perfectly. From there, we headed to the lodge for the ceremony.

The weather was beautiful. The sun was shining and skies were blue. We had a wonderful ceremony out by the lake with the friends and family that were able to make it. While saying our vows I heard someone yell "We're here!" I look up and see the big smiling face of my younger brother, his girlfriend Katie, our Pastor Tim and his wife Tammy. It was just like a scene from a movie! Apparently one of the roads had opened up and they were letting people in and out of Estes. We were told if the roads closed again they would not reopen for another week. We finished up the ceremony and all decided the best thing to do was to get out of Estes and head for Denver. The guys were able to make it up to the RV and brought it down the mountain to the condo. We loaded everything up and all headed for Denver.

Chris and I spent our wedding night at the Magnolia Hotel in downtown Denver. We had a wonderful dinner at the restaurant Panzanos, where they served us a 5 course meal on the house. We spent the next week on our honeymoon in Antigua where we recuperated with white sand and frozen drinks! We laid on the beach thinking about how unbelievable the situation was, how thankful we were that everyone was safe, and thinking about plans for another wedding back home with friends and family and my wedding dress!

Part II: Through Sickness and In Health

November 16, 2013 seemed like the perfect date! It gave us about two months to plan another wedding and most importantly it was Texas A&M's football teams bye week. I learned my lesson the first time around…you do not plan a wedding on a weekend that conflicts with college football in Texas! We chose to have the "wedding redo", as I called it, in my hometown of Crockett, Texas. We decided on the beautiful Hickory Creek Ranch as our new venue. The ranch is owned by Wade and Jenny Shartle who remodeled their barn specifically for weddings and we knew immediately this was the place for us. After everything that happened in Estes Park, Chris and I wanted this one to be fun and stress-free.

Rami Carter, our wedding planner, found Southern Charm florist which is owned by Cheri Taunton-Garner in Colorado Springs, CO. Even though they were not the florist we were going to use in our first wedding they heard our story and offered to travel to Texas just to help us. I cannot brag enough about how amazing Cheri and her team were. We also were able to hire Josh Grider to play some good old Texas country music and to sing his song "Crazy Like You" which was going to be our first dance. Again, everything seemed to be right on track and Chris and I were really excited to finally have our wedding day.

Wedding day rolled around and Chris woke up feeling really bad and sick to his stomach. I assumed this was probably some kind of bug that would be gone by the afternoon. I gave him some medicine and scurried off to the bridal lunch with the rest of the bridesmaids. Chris went on to the golf course with the guys and I later found out he only made it through 9 holes when he admitted he just felt too bad and had to go home. At that point I began to worry that this might be more than a 24 hour bug and was praying it wasn’t the flu. As everyone knows, wedding day goes by in a flash and there are a thousand things going on at the same time. I spent the afternoon with my bridesmaids getting hair and makeup done. I did communicate with Chris a few times and he told me he was feeling much better and could not wait for the wedding to start. At that point I figured everything was fine.


As it got closer to ceremony time I was all smiles. The barn was decorated with beautiful white drapes, lights, and flower arrangements that exceeded my expectations. The band was setup, the caterer was ready, and best of all I was in my wedding dress!!! The groom and groomsmen all arrived early to take pictures, however no pictures were taken because Chris could not get out of the truck. He was so sick he was lying in the seat with the heater on. Even though it was November, in Texas it stays warms far into winter. The thought of a heater on that day was unimaginable. Chris was determined to make it through the ceremony and as I walked down the aisle I could see his smiling face, but his eyes told it all. His face was pale and lips were white. His eyes were watery and red. I immediately knew something was wrong and was thankful to make it through the ceremony without my groom passing out. Once they introduced us as husband and wife and we made our way out the back of the barn, Chris collapsed. We called one of the doctor’s out of the party to come check on him. He immediately told us to get him to the hospital. Chris’s father and brother rushed him to the emergency room while I stood there upset, confused, and torn on what to do. I decided to stay at the wedding until we heard the news on what his condition was. When things like this happen it is hard not to be angry at God. I was so upset that he had put us through this. Was this a test? Was God punishing us for something I had done? A lot of things went through my mind. But I went ahead and stayed at the wedding as Chris had asked me to do. I thanked everyone for coming as I fought back the tears. All I wanted to do was to go be with Chris and to never think about a wedding again.

Finally, we were told Chris had appendicitis and must have an emergency appendectomy. As soon as I heard the news I packed up my stuff and headed for Nacogdoches. I made it there right after they had taken Chris back into surgery. His surgery went great and I was there when he woke up. The first thing Chris said was “I ruined another wedding.” It just broke my heart to hear him say that. I reassured him it was not his fault and thought to myself how lucky I am. At that moment I knew there was so much God has blessed me with. So what if I did not have the perfect wedding day. I had Chris, the most selfless and caring man as my husband. We had our health and the most wonderful families and friends. How dare I question God’s love for me. He has given me the most wonderful gift of all, a love that can withstand anything.

Chris and I spent our second wedding night in the hospital together. That morning we had wedding cake for breakfast

Part III: Life Lessons

When I look back now on our experience it’s bittersweet. While I don’t have the fairytale wedding story to share with my future children I do have incredible lessons to teach. It has brought me so much closer to God and I am very thankful for that. I believe Chris and I have a strong foundation now because we know what is most important in life and that’s our relationship with Christ, family, and friends. If there is nothing more you take away from this than a crazy wedding story then at least remember this:
 “For I know what I have planned for you’, says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you; I have plans to give you a future filled with hope. When you seek me in prayer and worship, you will find me available to you. If you seek me with all your heart and soul I will make myself available to you,’ says the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:11-13