Martha Rogers – Real Life Romance – Part 2 of 3

We were married that October eight months and six or seven dates after we met. As weddings go, ours was to be nothing special, but the things that happened prior and during the ceremony made it unforgettable for more reasons than the fact that I married the love of my life.

The problems began early in the day when my dad couldn’t find the studs for his shirt. He had rented the tuxedo in Dallas and brought it to Houston with him and hadn’t checked all the parts. That caused some panic until my stepmom remembered the pearl buttons from the uniform she wore as a hairdresser. Dad had picked her up at work and so she had it in her suitcase. That took care of that little problem, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Catastrophe averted.

The next problem occurred when we reached the church and carried everything to the room set apart for brides. When the photographer came in to take final shots of me with my wedding party and Dad, I looked for my veil and it was nowhere to be found. We searched for it, but no veil. Dad figured it had to be in the car, so he raced back to the parking lot to find it. He said at first it didn’t appear to be there, but finally he found it tangled up in the sheets we’d put in the back of the station wagon to protect the dress.

He returned just a few minutes before the music for the ceremony and the entrance of the bride and groom’s parents. We had one quick picture with my stepmom before she hurried upstairs for her part. The other pictures were just as hurried with the bridesmaids rushing upstairs to take their places. After a picture with my dad, we made it to the church lobby only seconds before the organist began the processional for my entrance.

Things went smoothly until I was standing at the altar with Rex. One of his groomsmen had taken ill and couldn’t make the flight for the wedding, so my uncle had filled in for him. At rehearsal everything had gone well and the stations were right, but I now saw my six foot plus uncle with the shortest bridesmaid and the tallest bridesmaid with the shortest groomsman. I just stared at them knowing I couldn’t do anything about it. Then the pastor grasped my arm. I had been so intent on the snafu with the attendants, I hadn’t heard the preacher, and so didn’t answer his question. I said “I do.” Then zoned out again and almost forgot the ring part.

We all had a big laugh about everything at the reception, but those are the things I remember about our wedding. Last year, 2009, we celebrated fifty years of marriage.

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