OUR HILARIOUS WEDDING
All hilarities of this wedding happened. None of the names were changed to protect the innocent. All incidences are factual. Nothing was fictionalized. Everything happened just as stated.
The scene was a small church in Mount Holly, North Carolina and I emphasize small. Here are all those who were on the miniscule stage:
Minister - Horace Ward (the bride’s cousin)
Groom - Bedford D. “Jay” Cain
Bride - Betty Faye Ward
Best Man - James Cain (brother of groom)
Maid of honor - Rachel Kennedy (bride’s college roommate)
Groomsmen - Bill Ward (bride’s brother)
Fred Justice (bride’s cousin)
Ray Crane (bride’s brother-in-law)
Bridesmaids - Betty Ward (bride’s sister-in-law)
Betty Justice (bride’s cousin)
Barbara Ward Crane (bride’s sister)
Flower girl - LaJuana Walker (groom’s niece)
Ring bearer - Laney Walker (groom’s nephew)
Miniature Bride & Groom - Mark & Jetta Ward (bride’s nephew and niece)
It all began on Friday evening, December 26th, 1969. The wedding rehearsal was scheduled and everyone was in attendance except for the bride’s oldest brother, James, and his wife, Sylvia. They were caught in a snow storm in Ohio. Of course their presence was not all that necessary for the rehearsal because they were only the organist and vocalist for the wedding.
As best they could, the wedding party hummed the wedding songs and continued with the rehearsal. Questions were raised as to who should carry the wedding rings--the best man or the ring bearer. The director felt that since the ring bearer was so young he might drop the pillow or lose the rings. The maid of honor suggested the rings be placed in the groom's nose. While this decision was taking place, the minister fainted. He had not eaten all day! Well, we were off to a good start.
December 27th, the day of the wedding, was a cold, icy day. All the trees were covered with ice. Marvin Porter, the bride’s uncle was to film the day’s event. He was snow bound in Virginia and never reached the ceremony. However, James and Sylvia made it through the snow and rehearsed the couple’s duet with Jay. The bride never had the chance to rehearse.
About two hours before the ceremony, the male members of the wedding party dressed for the day. Everyone's tuxedo fit them fine--except for Jay's. Someone had cut off the pants and not informed the rental shop. His pants came to around mid-calf. Now, understand, the rental shop was thirty miles away in Charlotte, N. C., through after-Christmas traffic. He barely made it back in time for the wedding.
The Mount Holly Church of God was a very small church at that time and could seat only around 75-100 people. The stage area was extremely small. Now just imagine it. There was a minister, bride, groom, maid of honor, best man, three bridesmaids, three groomsmen, a flower girl, the ring bearer, a miniature bride and groom, a soloist and organist. As you can imagine, the wedding party covered the stage.
The church was decorated with ferns across the front with an archway and two sets of candelabras across each side. There was a white covering on the floor of the stage and down the aisle. The bride’s two young nephews, Jimmy Ward and David Vaughn, were the candle lighters. Everything was going very smoothly as they lit each candle going up the candelabra. However, somehow a fern was also set ablaze in the process. The fire proceeded to drop onto the floor and catch the white cloth on fire. The bride’s Uncle Jim came from the audience and put out the fire. And this was only the beginning.
The basement furnace began to blow up the white sheet covering the aisle. It was decided that the church would not cool off that quickly if the furnace was turned off during the ceremony. Bill was commissioned to do that.
The switchbox was located on the inside wall at the end of the very last pew which was filled with people. As James began to sing--with Sylvia accompanying him on the organ--Bill excused himself all the way across the row and turned off the switch. He then excused himself back across the row. When he reached the aisle he heard the organ gradually fade out. He had turned off the organ instead of the furnace. James continued singing while Sylvia stared at the crowd with a puzzled look on her face! Bill once again had to excuse himself across the row again to undo his mistake. The organ gradually began to rise again.
The bride and groom had chosen to sing a song to each other. However, as stated before, the bride did not have time to rehearse with Sylvia who had chosen a different tempo than the bride had been rehearsing. Jay sang his verse just fine and it was time for the bride to join him on the chorus. However, he began to sing his verse all over again. Sylvia couldn't figure out what was happening and neither could the bride. All she knew to do was turn red from head to toe. Finally, Jay finished his verse the second time and she joined him and they finished the song.
As soon as her Dad gave the bride away, Jay and Betty stepped up onto the stage. The rest of the wedding party had been instructed to turn and face the stage. The miniature bride who was 2 1/2 remembered what to do. However, the miniature groom who was 4, was still facing the audience with a huge grin on his face. Jetta noticed him and took his head--one hand on each side of his face--and turned him toward the stage.
During the ceremony, the ring bearer, who was 5, was desperate to use the bathroom. He was squirming and fidgeting. He dropped the pillow a couple of times. Betty Justice later said, "You could tell when he no longer had to go by the peaceful expression on his face!"
Just after exchanging vows and rings, the couple knelt at the altar for prayer. All during the prayer, Jay kept squirming quite a bit. No! It's not what you think!!! His ring had been placed on the wrong hand and he was desperately trying to get it off. He was unable to get it off and wore it out of the church on the wrong hand.
Other than these incidences, the wedding was beautiful. I've heard it said that if the wedding doesn't go smoothly the marriage will. I guess that is true. We have been married 40 years this December 27th, 2009. We are just as much in love as we were at the beginning.
