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Weddings create memorable moments

Wedding bells were ringing last weekend within our extended family as my niece said her vows in the back yard of her grandmother’s home.

As an uncle, I managed to get off by doing just a few favors and offering up a wedding gift. The hard work seemed to fall to the poor father of the bride. I believe he also got most of the bills. Man, I’m glad I don’t have a daughter.

Actually, one of her other uncles and I went in together on the gift. Technically we didn’t get her a gift at all, just a card and a picture of what we proposed to buy the couple if things work out over the coming weeks. But it will be a nice gift if we do actually end up giving her a gift.

This particular niece had told her mother and daddy when she was little that she was going to be married under the grape arbor in her grandparents back yard and she did just that nearly 20 years later.

Most weddings have at least one memorable moment that will never be forgotten. For a good friend it was when he found out after the ceremony that his pride-and-joy 1971 Ford pickup had been desecrated by people decorating it during the wedding. According to his bride what she remembers is him stopping alongside the road outside of town and sitting on the curb crying while she ate watermelon from the reception.

For me it was the embarrassment of arriving at the rehearsal dinner after nearly everyone had been seated and realizing that I was supposed to pick up my bride-elect. I still haven’t lived that one down. I also remember on my wedding morning getting a call from the office saying they needed me to come down and work on the press so they could get the newspaper out.

For the wedding last week, I’m not sure what the bride and groom will remember. Maybe it will be the fact that the preacher forgot to tell the groom he could kiss the bride, so he didn’t.

The bride’s mother has apparently recorded a couple of episodes into her memory banks, however. She has some pretty good wedding dress stories — I won’t go into here — but the best story she’s telling is on herself.

Lots of worry had been expended on making sure the back yard was watered enough to be nice, but not too much, so as to cause women’s heels to sink and cause disaster.

Before the wedding a reconnaissance was made for holes in the lawn and one was found. Grandmother of the bride wanted a flower pot placed there to keep anyone from tripping, but bride’s mother said that was a dumb place for a flower pot. So, you can guess who would end up taking the tumble.

As the ceremony ended and bride’s mom and dad went back down the aisle arm-in-arm, bride’s mom stepped in the hole and started to fall. She found out later from nearby audience members that as she fell she said, to the audience members, in a calm soft voice, “I’m falling.”

Bride’s dad thought bride’s mom could be promptly pulled back up so as not to embarrass her too much. He, of strong arms, tugged hard on mom to no avail. Bride’s mom’s knees had repositioned themselves inside the long gown purchased specially for the occasion. Gracefulness was now out of the question.

The preacher, slack-jawed, stopped midway through the invitation for the reception to watch the calamity unfolding. Once they got bride’s mom to her feet, everyone was relieved to know there were no torn ACLs or broken ankles. She was amazed there wasn’t even a grass stain on the dress.

Karl Terry is managing editor for the Portales News-Tribune. He can be contacted at 356-4483, ext. 33. His e-mail address is:

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