Our Wedding Day, and Then Some…

“As much as you want to plan your life, it has a way of surprising you with unexpected things that will make you happier than you originally planned.”

Unknown

A few months before our wedding, I took a business trip to Reno and stayed overnight at my Aunt Janice and Uncle Gordon’s cabin above Lake Tahoe. That night, I called my fiancée, Liz, to catch up on the day and wish her a good night’s sleep. She was excited to tell me that she had found the perfect photographer for our wedding. I was happy to hear it, until she said that the wedding photos would be completed over two days’ time.

I asked how it could take two days to take wedding photos. Is that even legal? Liz explained that the price included an additional shoot within a month of the wedding, at the studio, Descanso Gardens, and the beach, in our full wedding attire.

Skipping over the rest of the details of our phone conversation, let’s just say it became a bit tense. Thankfully, that lovers’ quarrel soon passed, and we had the most beautiful wedding ever.

And a month or so after our wedding, I re-rented my tux, and Liz once more put on her wedding gown and was beautiful to behold and to hold again. We made our way to the photographer’s studio for the indoor shots, and then on to Descanso Gardens in La Cañada.

We enjoyed walking around the lovely gardens, as bride and groom again, in spite of the stares from folks just there for the day in their T-shirts and shorts. The photographer gave us a break for lunch, and we had a sudden inspiration. My Aunt Mary and Uncle Jack lived just a mile away, and so we decided to drop in on them.

Of course, they had been to our wedding, but we hadn’t seen them since then. So, we rang their door bell and waited, in our full wedding attire, for them to open the door. And when they did, they about fell over. Were we still celebrating our wedding? Had we not changed our clothes? Were we ever going to change our clothes? You could see it all in their eyes in a flash.

We let them wallow in wonder for thirty seconds or so, and then we told them what was going on. They laughed as much as we did and invited us in for lunch.

We returned to Descanso Gardens to complete the shoot and then drove to Will Rogers Beach. Looking at the beach photos, we do look a little tuckered out.

But what a lovely extension of the joy of our wedding, shared again with our family. And my then wife-to-be was right, the photos turned out beautifully.

-Hank