Wedding Day Blues

Once a month I volunteer in the Oakland Temple. Yesterday, I had that privlege. One of my assignments was to stand near the front desk and greet the patrons. When you are assigned the front desk area, you also make sure those doing baptisms or receiving their endowments, or getting married are shown the correct area to go.

About 9:00 am, a young man showed up. The man at the desk found out he was getting married that day. He was getting married at noon. He was slightly early. His fiancee was not with him.

I escorted him to the room so they could complete the paperwork and make sure his wedding license was in order. No one was in that office and when I went to track someone down, they suggested that he wait in the cafeteria because it was so early.

I went back and suggested he might want to get something to eat. He wasn't interested in eating. He was interested in getting married. He looked so nervous that my heart went out to him. I tried to calm him down by visiting with him a few minutes. He told me that his fiancee had already recieved her endowment in the Sacramento temple. He told me that they were arriving early to get their pictures done before the sealing. He was also very distressed because it was so foggy that he was worried that the pictures would not turn out. I told him I got married in February and it was a very overcast day, but sometimes those are the pictures that turn out the best. I don't think I reassured him. As we continued to visit, he received a text. His soon-to-be wife was running late.

I felt so bad for him. Here he was--all alone in the temple with some strange lady for temporary company. He began pacing the room and then decided to wait in the large foyer off the entrance. As I waited near the front desk, I could see him texting. I'm assuming it was to his bride. Soon, it was time for me to go to my next assignment. Yet, I kept thinking about him the rest of the morning.

When I finished my shift, I met my mom and she told me that she had heard that the bride had never arrived. I felt sick. I kept seeing this very young man with worried brown eyes, pacing the floor. My mom told me all the wedding guests were waiting for the noon wedding--which was only a few minutes away. She actually knew the groom's grandmother and she went to find her and visit for a few minutes.

When I met my mom again several minutes later, I received a wedding update. Actually the rumors about the bride not showing up were inaccurate. She had arrived after becoming hopelessly lost driving to the temple and had ended up in San Fransisco. Her groom became worried when she kept calling and saying she couldn't find the temple. He finally left to find her. Unfortunately, he was involved in a traffic accident. He was fine, but his car was totaled.

I could not believe what I was hearing. I've heard of things going wrong on a wedding day, but never to this extreme. As my Mom, Jack, and I left the temple, there was the waiting room full of guests. There was the bride and her bridesmaids standing outside the temple with the photographer getting a few pictures taken before the groom showed up. I wondered if the wedding EVER happened that day. Well today, I got the rest of the story.....

Today, I went back to the Oakland Temple with our ward's youth group who were doing baptisms. While I was there, I ran into one of the assistant matrons who recognized me as a temple worker. She mentioned in passing the wedding they had on Friday. I expressed interest and let her know I had met the groom and wondered what had happened. This is what she told me.

"Once the groom was in the car accident, his father went to get him. His car is a total loss, but fortunately he was OK. After a three hour delay, they were finally married and then his father drove the new couple up to the Sacramento area for the reception. I hope they got there in time!"

I was happy to hear that they finally were married. Whenever they move into a new ward and are asked to give a talk and "tell a little about themselves" they will have quite the story to tell. And when their future children ask about their wedding day, hopefully they will be able to laugh about it and say, "Well, there's this song from My Fair Lady that starts out,

I'm getting married in the morning.

Ding dong the bells are going to chime!

Throw out the stopper

Let's have a whopper!

But get me to the church on time!"