They had planned for months. Saving money for their honeymoon, buying all the little things that are needed for the wedding day, reception. The church was booked, the reception venue booked, the photographer(should I say who that was or could you guess) booked, the DJ booked, the dress bought, the tuxedos paid for. Everything in place......except the weather. My wife and I were keeping an eye on the weather. Snow heading our way. Surely not on Aaron and Autumns wedding day!
Thursday December 17th arrived and we met with Autumns mom at the UVA College at Wise student center to decorate for the reception. Everything went well and looked beautiful! Friday the 18th arrives, snow getting closer. My wife and I go to the Glamorgan Chapel fellowship hall in Wise, Va. to set up for the rehearsal and dinner. 2:30 p.m. it starts snowing. Not little flakes, HUGE flakes!! My oldest son Chris comes by and drops off my grandson CJ. He is worried about his wife and daughter and takes off to look for them. I leave to go home to get my son Austin to bring him back for the rehearsal and dinner. It takes close to an hour to go about 6.5 miles. People are in ditches everywhere and I am having to go through an obstacle course to get home but I make it. Unfortunately I call my wife and tell her that there is no way to get back to the church. She is stuck there to fend for herself and CJ. Chris has not made it back at that time. At 5:30 I post a photo of a pine tree, covered in snow, in my yard on facebook. Chris finds his wife and daughter and takes Brenda to his house. My wife is brought home by her brother around 6:00 or 6:30 and then the electricity goes off around 7:30. The rehearsal and dinner is called off without having to tell anyone. Everybody knows this storm is going to be bad, really bad!!
By the next morning we have between 18 and 24 inches of snow. How are we going to have a wedding? Are we going to have a wedding? We stay in contact with Aaron and Autumn by cell phone. All of the other phones are out. No electricity and no hot water.
Autumn and her mom finds a motel in Big Stone Gap, Va. that will let them come and take showers and get ready for the wedding. I borrow my father-in-laws four wheel drive truck to go get gas and kerosene and to size up the situation. I make it out to my future daughter-in-laws parents house where Aaron had to spend the night because of the snow. Everyones nerves are a little on edge. How are we.....they going to pull this off? Aaron and Autumn are determined to get married and I can understand why. Everything is paid for. If they don't get married, Aaron and Autumn, her mom and dad and my wife and I will be out a lot of money if it is postponed. The money is not an issue, their safety is though!
Autumn and her mom and bridesmaids head to BSG to get ready. Everyone else heads to the church to see what we can do. Autumns grandfather gets a couple of people together to clear the parking lot of the church. My camera equipment and batteries are ready, no problem there. I have photographed a lot of weddings with just my flash and no portable studio lights. Most of those weddings were outside in the summer or fall. This would be my first by flash entirely indoors.
The people that make it to the church, mostly family from both sides, quickly gather up candles and hand them out. We are going to have a genuine candlelight service. Aaron and his groomsmen find a room with windows, while there is some daylight left, and get dressed. Cold and dark is the best way to describe the sanctuary of the church. Even in daylight the church is dark on this day because of the overcast skies and it is still snowing. The wedding was originally scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m., it was after 5:00 p.m. and getting darker and everything was still not completely together. The flowers and other bridal necessities(by Paulas in Wise, Va.) arrive after she is contacted that the wedding is still taking place. The girls are doing the last minute preparations by flashlight. I start taking candid photographs of the girls getting ready and some of the flowergirl and whatever shots I could. Everyone is cold and it is dark but spirits are high, Aaron and Autumn are getting married!
One of Aarons groomsmen can't make it to the wedding. A wrestling coach from Castlewood, Va. Roads are too bad to get there. One of Aarons friends, Cody, has come to the wedding and he asks him if he would be a groomsman. Cody agrees but there is a problem. Coach Dean is short in stature, a real good person but not very tall and really muscular. Cody, on the other hand, is as tall as Aaron and not very muscular. How would the tux fit him? Perfectly! Cody tries on the tux and it fit him like it had been planned! Amazing!! It is a little after 7:00 p.m. and it is really dark. The candelabras are lit but doesn't give off a lot of light. All of the 22 people in attendance have candles but it doesn't help much. Everyone gets in place. No time to rehearse. I have done enough weddings to tell the groomsmen and groom where to stand but that is it. The ladies somehow know what they are supposed to do. Doors open and the bridesmaids start coming in, one at a time. My granddaughter Rachael uses a flashlight to shine on each person so I can focus my camera and take a shot. No electricity, no heat, no music. When the bride and her father walk in everyone stands and start humming the bridal chorus in unison. Sad but sweet. Something to remember.
The bride takes her place and the ceremony takes place. My oldest son Chris performs the ceremony and cries tears of joy for his brother and the privilege of being able to do his part for this day. They do the sand ceremony, the ring ceremony and they are married.
I usually take between 400 to 500 images at a wedding, sometimes more. At this wedding, my sons wedding, all I can get is around 175 to 200 shots. I did all I could do for them and somehow it didn't seem enough.
We all go next door to the fellowship hall and eat cold lasagna, banana pudding, Martha Washington candy(or peanut butter roll) and various other foods, by candlelight. It was cold and dark but Aaron and Autumns smiles lit up the room. They are married at last!
I knew Stan's son was being married on 12/19 and when the snow came fast and furious on Friday evening, I began to wonder if they would even be able to have the ceremony on Saturday evening. But we need to remember the reason for a wedding is the joining of a man and woman as one--it's not about all the extraneous things! It's truly about love and commitment and this is a terrific example of two families who helped this couple realize their dream--even though it turned out quite differently than planned.
ReplyDelete