Forgetting our Anniversary

Rob thinks it's hilarious that even I have trouble remembering our wedding anniversary date. In all fairness, though, we actually got married twice. So which date 'counts'? The 26th or the 27th?

My mom was our wedding planner, florist, pastry chef. She spent months trying out dessert recipes and freezing tarts and cookies.  She contacted caterers and set up tastings. She toured venues and chose the gorgeous hall where we got married.  She booked table rentals, the photographer, the pianist, the band.  She ordered and arranged the flowers and trained family members to help out with the centerpieces. She put everything together and made sure that my dream wedding came true.  Rob and I had 2 assignments: to pick the band and to get the marriage certificate.

We remembered to pick the band.

Rob and I had both just started new jobs. We had closed on the house just two weeks before. We had moved in and, as you saw in previous posts, had spent our free moments putting ourselves (as well as a new neighbor) in harm's way scraping popcorn ceilings, buying a refrigerator, and getting our internet set up. Only 10 days before our wedding I was visiting Wake Forest to accept a teaching award.  We had a lot going on.

So when we got into the cab, ready to head to the airport to fly to DC, we plopped down and sighed. Everything was in place.  We were ready to go get married.

But wait!  Before the cab even pulled away from the curb, I remembered, "The marriage certificate! Did you get it?"

Rob: "What? No. Did you?"

Oh, no!  Any I'm-getting-married-this-weekend nerves turned into I-can't-tell-my-mom-that-I-failed-to-do-my-only-job nerves.  What was I gonna do?  It was Tuesday evening.  First thing Wednesday morning I could call the District of Columbia Vital Records Office.  I decided to wait to mention this little glitch to my mother until I knew more.

When I found out the requirements for a Marriage Certificate in the District of Columbia, I couldn't decide whether to reveal my oversight to my mother at all.  Washington DC requires a 5 day waiting period and blood tests to receive a marriage certificate.  Five days?!?! We were getting married in 3!

What were we going to do?  Meanwhile, my youth pastor from high school was driving down from Deleware, where he now works, to officiate the ceremony.  It was important to me that he was actually able to.  After whispering the problem to Rob and my siblings, I decided to call Pastor Wayne to seek his advice. He and his wife, Kate, were en route when he answered the phone.  I gave him the low down.

"Don't worry," he assured me.  "I am still in touch with the office staff at Emanuel Lutheran in Vienna.  There is no waiting period nor blood test required in Virginia.  On Friday evening, you can just drive across to Virginia, get married in your old church, and then head to the rehearsal."  This sounded like an easy enough plan but I also knew that the house would be bustling with flower arranging on Friday evening. My mom had charts with to-do lists and was managing dozens of family members as they ran errands and set up place cards or dessert displays.  She had everything in order for Saturday, the big day when Rob and I would take our vows.  How was I going to tell her that she needed to adjust her schedule a bit so that she could drive to Virginia and see me, instead, get married in my rehearsal dinner dress on Friday?

Again, Rob and I consulted my siblings.  Should we tell mom at all? Should we just sneak off and get married on Friday and let the secret stay with us?  Should we bring one or two witnesses along but let mom and all the guests believe that Saturday was the true wedding day? But we couldn't. We wanted our family there with us.  We spilled the news and did as Pastor Wayne had suggested.  We got married on Friday.  And then again, on Saturday.

And so, in the end, we got to go to the chapel twice!

And take family photos two times!

 My father walked me down the isle both times!

We got to renew our vows... before our marriage was even a day old!

 There was twice as much kissing!

All of the flowers, desserts, songs, and toasts were perfect and memorable.  I would never ask my mother to do all that she did again, but I would marry Rob a third time tomorrow if I could.  

 And even though a month after our five year anniversary of being married and living in/working on this house we are still not finished, would I change a thing?  No.  I have learned so much from this experience and I believe that while this renovation has, many times, made us feel weak, it has actually made our bond that much stronger.