When Disaster Strikes

How’s that for a sensationalist headline? I feel like I should be introducing the local news. (is it me or are they more a caricature of themselves than ever?) CNN has a piece on wedding mishaps, a new book about them and a reminder that wedding insurance exists. The latter seems like a smart move considering all the things that can potentially stop working, fall over, blow up or be forgotten at home but I think it’s equally important to mentally prepare yourself for handling those situations. At the risk of getting shrinky dink on you; You can’t control the situation but you can control how you react to it. Growing up, my dance school would hold an annual recital at the old Paramount theatre in downtown Middletown, NY. During the dance rehearsal, after practicing the finale with everyone still on stage, our instructor Wendy Cutting would go through the same call and response every year: Wendy: “What are you gonna do if forget your steps?”
Us in unison: “KEEP ON DANCING!”
Wendy: “What are you gonna do if you see your best friend in the front row waving trying to get your attention?”
Us: “KEEP ON DANCING!”
Wendy: “What are you gonna do if your hat falls off?”
Us: “KEEP ON DANCING!”
Wendy: “What are you gonna do if your shoe falls off?”
Us: “KEEP ON DANCING!”
Wendy: “What are you gonna do if your top falls down?”
Us: “Keep (giggles) on (giggles) dancing (giggles)!”
Wendy: “Well, pull it up first, but keep on dancing!”
I once kicked my leg up so high, so fast that I fell on my back with a loud thud. I got up and kept on dancing. The less attention you draw to something, the less people are affected by it and the faster they forget. Ok, so maybe I haven’t forgotten, but my butt feels a lot better, thank you. I was fully prepared to the the Midol bride from Sixteen Candles on my wedding day. Fortunately, the moon spared me but not without getting hit somewhere else. During the rehearsal dinner the owner of the lodge where we were getting married called to say they had been without power all day due to the storm and there was no guarantee it would be restored in time for the wedding. In addition the tent that was to house dinner and cake flew off of its post and since they were shortstaffed (his wife was in the hospital and the usual lodge caretakers had a medical emergency of their own) they wouldn’t be able to put it back up. I could’ve lost it. And if I fed on drama, I might’ve. “Ok, we’ll just make it work. Let’s touch base tomorrow morning”. That was harder than I thought it would be to say, but once I did, things started to feel better. Maybe a candlelight wedding wouldn’t be so bad. We could do a buffet inside the house where people were staying. It would be cramped, but memorable at least. The owner called back in the morning with good news that power was restored and the rental company arrived early and were helping get the tent up, despite the pouring rain. I tipped them well. Everything looked promising until both tent heaters broke, leaving guests to scarf down dinner in their winter coats while my cousin and I moved the heavy wedding cake & decorations into the dance/ceremony area. We just laughed – it was really all we could do at that moment. You can’t let yourself get upset or else it’ll ruin your perception of the day and the goal is to make happy memories, not grumpy ones.