Shannon here: Amish Romance author, Mary Ellis shares her wedding day–a true comedy of errors–plus a chance to win a copy of her latest release, An Amish Family Reunion. Every time you comment, your name goes in the drawing for a copy. Deadline: Feb 18, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Mary:
Our Romance and Wedding Day by Mary Ellis
I met my husband of thirty-five years in college, and I must say the man wasn’t shy about his intentions. We met in September and three months later, right before Christmas, he approached my father with the declaration: “I’m in love with your daughter and intend to marry her right after college.” I believe my dad said something practical like, “not if you don’t have a job, you won’t.”
My beloved Ken persevered and formerly proposed in August after my parents’ anniversary dinner. He presented me with a very small but absolutely perfect diamond. We married six days after our graduation the following spring. (Yes, he had a job, but continued more education at night.)
Our wedding was the amusing part of the story…a comedy of errors would describe it well. Ken forgot his tuxedo jacket at home and had to get married in his dad’s jacket. Besides the coat being a poor fit, when he put it on in the parking lot outside the church, the wedding license blew away from the roof of the car.
Inside, I discovered before starting down the aisle that one of the flower girls had her dress on backwards. (bow in front vs. bow in back) My sister-in-law unzipped her daughter’s dress, dropped it to the ground, then turned it around in the sanctuary doorway. My niece denies this ever happened, but there were at least one hundred witnesses.
Later, while taking photos in the park, I bee flew into my bouquet. When I tried to dislodge her, she stung me on the cheek. Oh, did I mention the hall for the reception went out-of-business right before a June wedding? The replacement venue, a VFW hall, had no air conditioning and temps soared into the 90’s that day. Everyone looked like drowned rats in the reception pictures. (plus I had the red welt on the face)
The caterers ran out of food due to either very big eaters or people hadn’t returned their RSVP cards. Oh, and one groomsmen flirted with his bridesmaid so outrageously, fisticuffs broke out in the parking lot with the girl’s boyfriend.
My mom whispered in my ear, “Maybe you should have run away and gotten married like you originally planned.” Was she kidding…and miss all the fun? The only conclusion Ken and I could draw was: When a marriage starts out so horribly, things can only get better. And they certainly have.
About Mary: Mary Ellis grew up close to an Amish settlement where she loved their peaceful agrarian lifestyle and strong sense of Christian community. She and her husband now live by the largest population of Amish in the country where they take weekend trips to research her books. Mary enjoys reading, traveling, gardening, bicycling and swimming. Before “retiring” to write full-time, Mary taught Middle School and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate—a job with amazingly sweet fringe benefits. All three in her Miller Family series made the Christian bestseller lists. A Widow’s Hope was a finalist in the 2010 ACFW Carol Awards and Award of Merit for the Holt Medallion. Her current release is An Amish Family Reunion. Mary can be found on the web at her NEW website: w.maryellis.net, www.maryeellis.wordpress.com, and https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mary-Ellis/126995058236
About the book: Ties That Bind
Julia Miller misses her children. They are grown and have families of their own now, but her mother’s heart yearns for a houseful of laughter and joy once again. She plans to gather her chicks together in a summer celebration to remember.
At the farm next door, Julia’s niece, Phoebe, meets Eli Riehl, a young man who charms her—and everyone else—with his exceptional storytelling ability on a rumschpringe trip to Niagara Falls. When Phoebe sketches scenes to illustrate one of his tales, Eli encourages her incredible talent, and together they embark on a lofty and unlikely business venture for two young Amish people—writing and illustrating a children’s book.
Eli’s kindness and appeal extend beyond his knack for words to reach inside Phoebe’s shy heart. But he is an only son with five sisters, and when tragedy strikes at home, Eli gives up his writing to assume responsibility on the farm. Though willing to abandon his dream of becoming an author, he won’t give up his beloved Phoebe.
Can their love for a good story develop into something that lasts forever, or will memories of the past stand in their way?
Come back Feb 8th for an excerpt from An Amish Family Reunion.
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[…] of 50 free books during this promo period, so stay turned for more drawings. here’s the link: http://shannonvannatter.com/mary-ellis-real-life-romance-part-1-of-2/comment-page-1/#comment-7583 Like this:LikeBe the first to like this […]
I would love to win.
I would love to win this!!!!!!!!!
God bless!!!
I loved “A Marriage For Meghan” so much that I have eagerly anticipated this next book of yours! I sure do hope I can win it. Unfortunately, I may not be able to purchase it due to it pouring hardship at our house. Your comedy of errors at your wedding uplifted me and gave me hope. If such a less than perfect start turned out okay for you, there is hope for me amid all the hardships we are going through right now. My husband has been seriously ill for over 11 years. My three year old Basset Hound may have to undergo back surgery and we just found out the over 150 feet of gas line at our house will have to be replaced. We are having cold weather and have no gas, which means, no heat, no hot water and no working stove. When it rains, it pours, but God uses the bad times to draw us closer to him and will pour out blessings after the trials!
Dear Mary, I so enjoyed reading about your wedding day, what a very exciting day for all of you. I know from experience what can happen on your own wedding day and also if you have daughters like I and my husband have, anything can happen. I know on our wedding day, which was very small at the time, no money but just lots of love for each other, we were married and I had to go back home and get my suitcases that I forgot to take on our honeymoon before we could go. Being the mother of the bride is not easy either, I just had to laugh at your mother’s comments. I know when our daughter April’s husband came to us to ask for her hand in marriage, my husband actually told him a flat out NO, said they had not known each other long enough yet, but they married anyway. LOL They had a very small budget for their wedding but it was beautiful at our little country Church that we belong to, his family was from Boston and we are living here in KY. so believe me it was a shock to them, having never been to this part of the States before. They could not get over all the corn growing, wondering if we ate all this corn, their wedding was July 16th, so the corn was really tall by then, also they could not get over our country accent. It was a very beautiful Irish wedding and was kinda of hectic but God sees us through, they have been married almost 6 yrs now, and have given us two beautiful grandchildren. Now, this June 23rd, our other daugther Emily is getting married and we are already planning for this one. Praying for God to be with us as we go about getting every thing just as planned, which you know may not happen that way. Thanks for a wonderful story and giving us readers out there a chance to win your wonderful contest. God Bless Sincerely, Helen
I lov e the amish stories!Love to win this book!
Think of the many smiles you have had through the years thinking of your wedding day.
I think that’s a wonderful way to start a marriage!
I would be thrilled to win this book….I love your books.Please enter me…thanks…jackie_tessnair@yahoo.com
Would love to win love your books
Wow, what a way to start a life together! It’s wonderful that you could see the comedy in that day. I on the other hand would probably have been crying my eyes out in the ladies rest room.
I have enjoyed your other stories very much and I’m looking forward to An Amish Family Reunion. Thank you for the chance to win a copy.
thanks to everyone who posted a comment. I loved the “real life” wedding stories. Although I didn’t find the mishaps half so funny when they were taking place, it’s fun to look back and smile…good luck to everyone in the drawing! And thanks, Shannon, for inviting me to your lovely romantic blog!
I would love to win a copy of your book……at my wedding, a slice of our wedding cake was dropped right on my foot….
Your wedding story is wonderful, at least you can say it was one of a kind.
These things alway are better looking back on them.
I would love to be a winner of your book.
Thank you.
I have to laugh…We expect so much out of our Wedding Day. Usually the least little thing that goes wrong that day is dwelt on. But some of us do have genuine stories to tell, just like you. I was married on May 6, 1989. I picked May because it should have been a beautiful Spring day, not too hot. Well it was snowing like a blizzard that day! Needless to say, we did not get to ride in the convertible to the reception. The Florist left my flowers in her van overnight and they froze. She delivered me dead flowers…and didn’t stick around to tell me. We managed to save a few of the less wilted roses from the bridesmaids bouquets to salvage me a bouquet. We got to the reception area and the beautiful (and expensive) flower arrangements we had paid for on each table, was a simple carnation in a bud vase. My mom was furious. Other than that, the rest of the evening went great. But it is an experience we won’t ever forget…and we can laugh about it today. By the way..the next day was a beautiful spring day!
I have loved all the books I have read by Mary Ellis!
What a very interesting wedding. I guess it was Murphy’s law ( whatever could go wrong goes wrong). Please enter me in your drawing.
I cannot wait to read this book about your wedding. At our wedding (over 46 yrs. ago), I fell dancing the Polka with my sister! Got up right away but it was so funny.
In this month of love and romance, thanks for sharing such a true-life delightful story, Mary!
Don’t put me in the drawing. I just won a copy from Jo’ blog the other day. Thanks.
Love your books and would love to win this one!
i thought my wedding was funny i guess no one’s go as plained me and my hubby meet in deer season that fall then he called me on the phone in apirl asked me to merry him then in 8 hours he was at my mom in dad’s house we got merryed that day went back to ky for open tukey season that was our wedded and honeymoon all in one deal 15 year’s later we still in love blessing to u
Would love to win An Amish Reunion! Am sure it is a great book — like all your others!
Thanks!
I loved your wedding story – I think all those things create memories & make your wedding unique. My mother-in-law was 25 minutes late for our wedding & my father-in-law didn’t make it because he was sick – so my mother-in-law sobbed loudly through out the ceremony!! We’ve now been married 32 years & laugh about it every year.
Love the wedding story! If what you said is true then that is why my husband and I have gotten along so well. We too had a small wedding. My father’s tux pants were 4 sizes too large. We were able to return them. My MIL came in and told me that she had given my husband, his Dad (who was performing the ceremony) and his brother ( the BM) their tuxes and told them to figure it out. (None of the tux sizes were right). When I tried to walk down the aisle, my dress got stuck on a nail and ripped some. It started pouring down rain. My husband brought his truck down to get me when we left and we slid our way out of the grass to leave. We have been married for going on 13 years. Wouldn’t have changed anything. Oh and our flower girl refused to wear her dress or walk down the aisle. She finally chanaged during the reception and then didn’t want to take off the dress. I wonder if a wedding is any fun without all of the errors!! Would love to win your book!!
I loved the wedding story.
Wow did you you say 50 copies? I definitely want to read this book even if I don’t win a copy.
I love the story. Atleast you’ll always have funny stories to tell. I can’t wait to read your book.
Thank you for sharing your wedding story.
Mary,
A wonderful story and you are right who would want to miss that fun. My 40th annisversary was in July. The night we got married, it was raining cats and dogs and I put my husband’s ring on the wrong hand, nothing like your adventure.
Would love to win 🙂
Hilarious wedding story. My mother and dad owned a formal wear business. His side was all tuxedos and hers was anything to do with the ladies in the wedding party. The stories I could tell would entertain as well.
Congratulations on having a long and loving marriage. It’s practically unheard of anymore.
It’s all true. I know, I was there!
Loved your wedding story!
Mary, your wedding tale is hilarious! I can just imagine all of the situations, but the beesting on the cheek wasn’t anything to laugh at. You poor thing. It’s a good thing you have such a wonderful sense of humor. I loved your story! Thank you offering another opportunity to win a copy of your wonderful book!
oh my goodness! thanks everyone for sharing your wedding stories. I no longer feel quite so alone! One was funnier than the next. I think we all place too much stock in weddings. It’s the marriage and our commitments that count. thanks for posting comments.
I loved the story wow you have to look back and laugh glad your marriage turned out better thank the wedding.
I would love to win a copy of your wonderful book Mary …….babyruthmac16@yahoo.com
I would love to enter to win, any more giveaways? I heard about your book on another blog. I really enjoy reading Amish.
Wow I won! Thanks!!!