Wedding Plans

Days didn't seem to drag anymore as the excitement of Jim coming home and the "busyness" of planning a wedding took over. I had to order flowers, look at wedding cakes, find a photographer, decide on what what to serve....etc. etc. But my biggest dilemma was still what to do about a wedding dress. My prayers where answered when one of my mom's best friends, Thelma Strong, volunteered to let me borrow a dress from her newly married daughter-in-law. I'm not too sure how the daughter-in-law felt about it, but I hope that her new mother-in-law checked with her beforehand. And I hope that somehow she knew how grateful I was. The dress was beautiful - more gorgeous than anything I would have been able to afford. It consisted of a floor length lace redingote (a long outer coat-like covering) over a plain dress with a skirt of yards and yards of tulle. I felt like a real princess in that dress.

With the dress problem resolved, I could now go on with remaining details of the wedding. I picked out the wedding cake - a two layer one because the musical revolving top I had purchased while working at the bakery was pretty large. Sheet cakes, punch, mints, and nuts completed the planned refreshments. These were the common choices at most weddings of that day. Only the very rich served dinner or had the buffets as we see today. Flowers were ordered, simple carnations for the bridesmaids and a large purple Cattleya orchid surrounded by Lillies of the Valley for me. This was a splurge because those orchids were a quite costly. But I had always dreamed of having one in a corsage someday because they were not only very beautiful (and fragile) but also a real "status symbol". This was my chance. The orchid in the bouquet was removable so it could be used as a "going away" corsage.

Because funds were getting a little low, I settled on a rented arch and candelabra as a backdrop for the bridal party and forwent decorations for the hall...just a few flowers on the tables. But there was still a photographer to hire, and I was basically out of money. But I really wanted pictures. Doesn't every bride want memories of her special day? I knew I would have to make a sacrifice if it were to happen, and I did. I sold my cello. Everything was now in place so I would have the two weeks from the time when Jim was due home until our wedding day to get "re-acquainted" again. After all, he had been gone for two years. I have to admit that I had some concern as to whether he or I had changed during that time, or if our feelings were not as we had remembered before he left. Maybe he would decide that this whole marriage thing was not the right decision once he saw me again. I guess it could have been those "pre-marriage jitters" that we hear so much about. I found myself looking more and more at the picture I had of him in his Air Force uniform. He was so handsome! Was that my attraction to him? I wanted to be sure and I wanted Jim to be sure. So I once again turned to prayer for that confirmation, and it came. I learned later that I need not have been concerned about Jim because he had made our relationship a matter of prayer before he wrote that proposition letter and sent a ring. He told me how he had received personal revelation that I was the right one.

Everything was going so well and all on schedule. Then the bottom fell out of all the plans I had so carefully made when I received a long distance call from Jim.