Shannon here: Contemporary Romance author, Elizabeth Maddrey shares her wedding day full of laughs plus a chance to win her latest release: Courage to Change – Book 2 in her Grant Us Grace series. Comment on any post dated April 1 – 5 to get your name in the drawing. Deadline: April 13, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Elizabeth:
Elizabeth Maddrey & Dad
You know how they say you’ll always remember your wedding day? Well…mine is pretty much a blur. There are a few things that stick out in my mind – and they’re very much in line with our personalities and the tenor of our relationship.
In the morning when we arrived at the church, everything was set up and, by and large, things were running pretty smoothly. When the doors opened and I stood with my dad at the top of the aisle looking down at Tim, there was a minute where I couldn’t catch my breath. And then I practically ran down the aisle. We took less than half of the processional – thankfully my aunt is a very skilled organist and wrapped up the song easily.
Because we tried, very hard, to include everyone in our wedding party, we ended up with 6 attendants each. And 4 flower girls. I don’t recommend this for two reasons. First, you’ll miss someone no matter how hard you try (and if you’re our extended family, the mother of the missed child will grouse loudly throughout the entire wedding and reception.) Second, your party will be so large that inevitably someone, in this case Tim’s youngest sister, will be near the edge of the steps to the platform and, should they get bored, they will fall off. With a loud thud. In the middle of a prayer. Then you have to pause the wedding to make sure she’s ok and so forth…and the next day you and your new husband will laugh for over an hour about how that would only happen to you.
My uncle sang a lovely solo during the lighting of the unity candle. Unfortunately, it took us pretty much only the introduction of the song to actually light the thing. So after that, we were just standing and listening to the song. And Tim leans over and whispers in my ear, “Mawwiage is what bwings us…togevver…today.” (a la The Princess Bride, if you’re unclear.) At which point I nearly lost it. There is an incredibly inelegant snort on our wedding video.
Speaking of the video…we’d thought all had gone smoothly until, we watched it and saw the Best Man yanking furiously at his hand in every prayer, hoping to dislodge the ring that had gotten stuck on his pinky. When it finally did come off, it very nearly went flying into the baptistery. And, as we flipped through the photos taken with disposable cameras at the reception, we came across people we had never seen before dressed in pieces of tuxedos, various groomsmen smiling along side. They got bored before hand and went across the street to the farmer’s market – apparently the fishmonger and one of the vegetable salesmen were very happy for us.
We started things off with a good laugh, and we’ve been chuckling together ever since.
About Elizabeth: Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity.
Her debut novel, Wisdom to Know, Book 1 of the Grant Us Grace Series, was released in January, 2013. Courage to Change, the second in that series, continues the story of characters from the first book will be released on April 8, 2013. She is also the co-author of A is for Airstrip: A Missionary’s Jungle Adventure, a children’s book based on the work of a Wycliffe missionary.
Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
About the book – Courage to Change – Book 2 Grant Us Grace series: Should you be willing to change for love?
When Phil Reid became a Christian and stopped drinking, his hard-partying wife Brandi divorced him. Reeling and betrayed, he becomes convinced Christians should never remarry, and resolves to guard his heart.
Allison Vasak has everything in her life under control, except for one thing. Her heart is irresistibly drawn to fellow attorney and coworker, Phil. Though she knows his history and believes that women should not initiate relationships, she longs to make her feelings known.
As Phil and Allison work closely together to help a pregnant teen, Allison melts his defenses. But when Brandi discovers Phil’s new relationship, she decides that though she doesn’t want him, no one else can have him either. Can Phil and Allison’s love weather the chaos Brandi brings into their lives?
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Change-Elizabeth-Maddrey/dp/193870813X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1
Come back April 3 for more from Elizabeth Maddrey!
Because we tried, very hard, to include everyone in our wedding party, we ended up with 6 attendants each. And 4 flower girls. I don’t recommend this for two reasons. First, you’ll miss someone no matter how hard you try (and if you’re our extended family, the mother of the missed child will grouse loudly throughout the entire wedding and reception.) Second, your party will be so large that inevitably someone, in this case Tim’s youngest sister, will be near the edge of the steps to the platform and, should they get bored, they will fall off. With a loud thud. In the middle of a prayer. Then you have to pause the wedding to make sure she’s ok and so forth…and the next day you and your new husband will laugh for over an hour about how that would only happen to you.
My uncle sang a lovely solo during the lighting of the unity candle. Unfortunately, it took us pretty much only the introduction of the song to actually light the thing. So after that, we were just standing and listening to the song. And Tim leans over and whispers in my ear, “Mawwiage is what bwings us…togevver…today.” (a la The Princess Bride, if you’re unclear.) At which point I nearly lost it. There is an incredibly inelegant snort on our wedding video.
Speaking of the video…we’d thought all had gone smoothly until, we watched it and saw the Best Man yanking furiously at his hand in every prayer, hoping to dislodge the ring that had gotten stuck on his pinky. When it finally did come off, it very nearly went flying into the baptistery. And, as we flipped through the photos taken with disposable cameras at the reception, we came across people we had never seen before dressed in pieces of tuxedos, various groomsmen smiling along side. They got bored before hand and went across the street to the farmer’s market – apparently the fishmonger and one of the vegetable salesmen were very happy for us.
We started things off with a good laugh, and we’ve been chuckling together ever since.
About Elizabeth: Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity.
Her debut novel, Wisdom to Know, Book 1 of the Grant Us Grace Series, was released in January, 2013. Courage to Change, the second in that series, continues the story of characters from the first book will be released on April 8, 2013. She is also the co-author of A is for Airstrip: A Missionary’s Jungle Adventure, a children’s book based on the work of a Wycliffe missionary.
Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
About the book – Courage to Change – Book 2 Grant Us Grace series: Should you be willing to change for love?
When Phil Reid became a Christian and stopped drinking, his hard-partying wife Brandi divorced him. Reeling and betrayed, he becomes convinced Christians should never remarry, and resolves to guard his heart.
Allison Vasak has everything in her life under control, except for one thing. Her heart is irresistibly drawn to fellow attorney and coworker, Phil. Though she knows his history and believes that women should not initiate relationships, she longs to make her feelings known.
As Phil and Allison work closely together to help a pregnant teen, Allison melts his defenses. But when Brandi discovers Phil’s new relationship, she decides that though she doesn’t want him, no one else can have him either. Can Phil and Allison’s love weather the chaos Brandi brings into their lives?
Purchase Link: http://www.amazon.com/Courage-Change-Elizabeth-Maddrey/dp/193870813X/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1
Come back April 3 for more from Elizabeth Maddrey!
What a delightful post. Thanks. I would love to be entered!
This sounds like a wonderful book. Thanks for having the giveaway.
Thanks for stopping by Marianne and Rose! (We still quote The Princess Bride around here an awful lot.)
I would love to add this book to our church library collection.
Thanks for giving me the chance to do so.
thanks for the chance to read this novel
Janet & Karen – thanks for stopping by!