THE ROYALLY WET WEDDING
Nothing could stop this happy couple from tying the knot—not even a hurricane!
With the Royal Wedding of Harry and Meghan now well past, but whose lives are still the topic of much discussion with recent news of the royal couple moving to Canada for a time, I thought I would share the story of my grandparents’ wedding. Although their big day was not televised, the total cost of the wedding wasn’t in the millions (probably less than a thousand) and the guest list was not comprised of royalty and celebrities, it was a memorable day nonetheless. Grandma had stayed the night at her eldest sister’s apartment so as to be closer to the church where the ceremony was to take place on October 15, 1954. The day of the wedding was rainy and the apartment was dark. She was getting into her gown when she finally asked her sister why the place was so dark. Her sister, who is usually calm, collected and organized, replied in a frantic tone that the electricity had gone out!
Grandma claims that she didn’t look at herself in the mirror even once before heading to the church. After all, it was too dark to see herself properly!
On her way to the church, which was a very slow drive with the driving wind and incessant rain, she realized that she had forgotten to put on the necklace that her husband-to-be had given her to wear on their most special day. Her friend and driver turned around and went back for the necklace. Between the necklace retrieval and the weather, she was quite late for her own wedding. Meanwhile, my grandfather was driving through very deep puddles and heavy rain when a police officer on a motorcycle pulled up beside him. “Where are you going in this weather” the officer demanded. “I’m getting married,” replied my grandfather. “Follow me!” commanded the policeman and proceeded to escort my grandfather to the church. Much to Grandfather’s relief, his bride finally arrived at the church as well. He told her that she looked beautiful and that he had feared he would never see her again because the weather was so horrendous. Many of the guests didn’t make it to the wedding because of the inclement weather. What kind of rainstorm keeps people from attending a wedding you ask? Hurricane Hazel! They say rain on your wedding day is good luck—how about a hurricane?