With my vast knowledge of wedding rehearsals—having been in a few, having watched tons of Hallmark weddings, and hello, romance writer—I feel I know how they work. So, when we assembled at the venue for Darcy and Oleg's rehearsal, I expected Reverend Sharon to lead it.
So did she.
Then again, my past experiences did not include a wedding planner.
I wasn't a fan.
In her defense, and I didn't find this out until much later after the damage was done, she had a small window of time. Her child was performing or getting an award or some such crucial event, and she needed to be in a different county, which meant rush hour on a Friday afternoon. No one conveyed this to the mother of the bride.
Who would've suggested a different time/day for said rehearsal.
We met for the first time that day. It was my first time seeing the venue in person, having only viewed it via FaceTime. I had a picture of Darcy at the age of three in a wedding dress that I wanted to incorporate into the wedding. Somewhere. It was too cute not to, and I'd used the picture at her bridal shower.
The wedding planner was unhelpful.
She sneered in disdain while still FINISHING THE TABLE DECORATIONS and shrugged.
I decided that I didn't like her.
Lady, my baby, my precious daughter, is about to embark on the rest of her life AWAY FROM ME. I have spent twenty-plus years shoving obstacles out of the way so she can survive. I am hanging on by a thread here. FIND A WAY TO USE THIS DAMN PICTURE.
I didn't say it, but I thought it. Shouldn't wedding planners, especially those with children, understand that? Shouldn't they act accordingly? Hold hands with the parents? Ease them into everything?
Maybe if we had met beforehand...
People were late. I held it together, feeling vulnerable and sniffly. Once everyone arrived, Ms. Wedding Planner started things off at the altar. Huh?
Who starts a rehearsal in the middle? I made an under-the-breath remark, thinking we should know where to start, and the bride told me to stuff it. We took our places. Reverend Sharon started her sermon. Ms. Wedding Planner said we didn't need to hear it. She rearranged people and told us what to do, not knowing what the hell the couple was doing, and my blood went from a simmer to a boil.
Sharon sat down with the bride and groom and went through the ceremony from beginning to end weeks ago. She knew the drill and wanted to go through it from beginning to end, simplify a few details, and answer some questions. Ms. Wedding Planner didn't care. Sharon and I exchanged looks that said everything we couldn't say out loud.
WTF?
The sun beat ruthlessly down on us. Some of us moved to a shaded area while Darcy explained the PLAN to Ms. Wedding Planner. The woman wiggled her fingers at us in the shade, hurrying us along as if she had someplace to be.
Oh, she did.
Only I didn't know this.
Her frustration and irritation pissed me off. When she finally announced that was it and that she had to be off, Sharon and I exchanged a relieved look, and before Ms. Wedding Planner was out the door, Sharon had us lined up to start from the beginning.
We ran through the rehearsal twice. It was silly, and there was laughter. Like a rehearsal should be.
Until the bride disagreed with her mother, Ms. Wedding Planner had said the parents should stay seated and not walk back down the aisle after the marriage. I said I was walking back down the aisle.
The bride got snippy, and I got mad. Madison tried negotiating peace, but Darcy sniped at her. The entire wedding party stared at all three of us. I did not want to cry, but I was barely hanging on at this point, and would've preferred to discuss my feelings off to the side with the bride and groom.
That didn't happen as the bride continued telling me that the Wedding Planner...
Me: "I don't care. What I do care about is coming back down this aisle so that your father and I, as well as Oleg's mother and grandmother, can hug our children and congratulate them in the privacy of this area."
I may have choked up. It wasn't my finest moment.
The bride gave in, not too willingly, which hurt my feelings, but we were now running late to get ready for the rehearsal dinner, so I sat down in the only chair available (since nothing was ready for the reception) and pouted.
Sharon, who knows me like the back of her hand, laid her hand on my shoulder and asked if I was okay.
I said no. I stood up and followed my husband to the car, where we then headed back to shower and get ready for the next phase. I don't think I spoke one word the entire drive, my mind remembering bringing Darcy into the world and then flashing through our time together piece by piece, moment by moment.