Nikki Studebaker Barcus – Real life Romance – Part 3 of 3

Shannon here: Inspirational author, Nikki Studebaker Barcus shares her exciting wedding story, including burning carpet and a soul rededicated to Christ. Comment by Sept 25, 8:00 PM Central for a chance to win a copy of White Roses. After deadline, I’ll post the winner’s name in the comments. Winner contact me. Here’s Nikki:

The Wedding: In Good Times and in Bad

We set our wedding date for January 1, giving us two weeks after I returned from college to plan and a one week honeymoon before I started my student teaching assignment.

We planned the ceremony for 6:30 and used candles as our main decorations. The florist assured us that the drip-less candles cost a little more, but they were tons safer. We found a multi-purpose room complete with kitchen, plenty of seating, and a 20-foot Christmas tree decorated in our wedding colors. For the reception, we rented a helium tank and beautiful balloons to make centerpieces.

The day dawned cloudy and crisp with a subdued air to the town, probably due to the fact that everybody else remained tucked in bed from the late night before. My mom, David’s parents, and Andi, my matron of honor, arrived at the reception hall. Crisscrossing the floor were black marks made by the shoe soles. Hadn’t they heard of non-marking shoes? My in-laws pulled out stacks of chairs and placed them around tables while my mom and I scrubbed the marks from the floors. Andi started on the one hundred purple and gold balloons. After three balloons, the helium tank ran dry. I guess balloon renters don’t work on New Year’s Day, because we couldn’t get anyone at the store. We finally found a florist who said we could bring the balloons up and fill them there. We borrowed Andi’s dad’s utility van, raced uptown and filled the balloons. We only lost about twelve, sucked from the van when we opened the doors.

Everyone left the reception hall to get their hair done, and I finished the decorations by myself, leaving only forty-five minutes to shower and get dressed before pictures.

Despite the candle that dripped on the floor and started the carpet on fire, the snowstorm that ran people out of the reception after only an hour, the niece that cried so loud most people couldn’t hear our vows; we were blessed with a beautiful, Spirit-filled wedding. In fact, the Spirit convicted my uncle in the middle of our wedding so that he rededicated his life to Christ that night, renounced his alcoholism, and left his cigarettes on the altar. Good thing, too, or the burning carpet might not have been seen until it was too late.

Come back Sept 25 for your favorite post from June – August. Next week:

Sept 27: Love Inspired author, Lynn Cote’s real life romance and book giveaway.

Sept 28: Links to your top ten blog posts from June – August.

Sept 29: Aspiring author, Lisa Collins’ real life romance.

Oct. 1: Aspiring author, Casey Herringshaw’s romantic interview.