As our wedding got closer, we got more excited. We were ready to begin our life together and nothing was going to get in our way. We were still driving an hour to and from Dyer twice a week and was not making a lot of money at all. I had my work study check and Kaycee was subbing in the Chester County schools but we were pretty much broke.
There were a lot of decisions to be made for our wedding. The most difficult ones involved the music that would be played. We each picked a few songs to play before and we each had our own song to enter to. I felt like a local small town wrestler as I was waiting outside the front door of the auditorium and Soul Man by the Blues Brothers came on. I waited until just the right time and made my grand entrance. It was pretty awesome.
There were a couple of things in our wedding that very few knew about. One was the head nod that Reed Swindle gave to Chad upstairs when it was time to change the song. After a few lines of Soul Man, Reed gave the nod and it was time for the groomsmen and bridesmaids to enter. They came in to a song from Steel Magnolias called Easter Picnic Departure. Steel Magnolias is one of Kaycee’s favorite movies of all time so it was only right to have that in there too!
After another Reed nod it was time for the flower girl. Unfortunately, she had fallen asleep and didn’t make it down the aisle. One more nod and it was Kaycee’s time to shine. We broke tradition and saw each other before the wedding (it’s ok, it was for pictures and we’ve managed to stay married for almost 6 years now) but it I will still never forget seeing her when those doors opened. I didn’t know it at the time but her dad was repeating “Her mother and I do.” When Kaycee asked what he was doing he told her he wanted to be sure he got it right.
Her song was the feather song from Forrest Gump. It was a beautiful song for a beautiful lady. They made it to the front of the auditorium and with one more Reed nod, the fun part began. Honestly, neither of us remember a whole lot about the wedding. We were both so in the moment that we forgot to take it all in. We said our vows and exchanged rings and then the good part! Reed said “You may now kiss your bride!” Woo-Hoo!
We had a plan though. Kaycee is a lot shorter than I am and we wanted to have some extra fun so we stored a small step stool behind where the bridesmaids were lined up. Kaycee, the bridesmaids, and myself were pretty much the only ones who knew about it. You cannot imagine the look on Reed’s face when he said we could kiss and she turned around the other way. It was quite confusing for everyone!
The stool got passed up the line and placed in front of her. She stepped up and we had our kiss. We had no clue what the reaction would be to this and never expected what did happen. The whole place erupted with laughter and applause. It was awesome. With that and another nod from Reed, Foggy Mountain Breakdown came on and we were announced as husband and wife. There is a rumor that I was dancing down the aisle but in reality, I was trying to not step on Kaycee’s dress.
We had a small feast at our reception. Most importantly, we had Yoo-Hoos and white powder doughnuts. These were mine and Kaycee’s snack of choice on our late night trips to the Shell station in Henderson.
Just like the ceremony, we don’t remember a lot about the reception. We talked to a lot of people and gave a lot of hugs. Pretty soon we were lining up to run out of the building to the horse and carriage that was waiting for us. Our last fun addition to our wedding was that we had Lucky Charms cereal thrown at us. Partly because Lucky Charms are awesome and partly because it seemed cool to say that everyone threw lucky charms at us after we got married. Of course I caught a few of them flying through the air and then picked the rest out of Kaycee’s hair as we rode around Lewisburg in the carriage.
We were married and everything was perfect.
To be continued...
There were a lot of decisions to be made for our wedding. The most difficult ones involved the music that would be played. We each picked a few songs to play before and we each had our own song to enter to. I felt like a local small town wrestler as I was waiting outside the front door of the auditorium and Soul Man by the Blues Brothers came on. I waited until just the right time and made my grand entrance. It was pretty awesome.
There were a couple of things in our wedding that very few knew about. One was the head nod that Reed Swindle gave to Chad upstairs when it was time to change the song. After a few lines of Soul Man, Reed gave the nod and it was time for the groomsmen and bridesmaids to enter. They came in to a song from Steel Magnolias called Easter Picnic Departure. Steel Magnolias is one of Kaycee’s favorite movies of all time so it was only right to have that in there too!
After another Reed nod it was time for the flower girl. Unfortunately, she had fallen asleep and didn’t make it down the aisle. One more nod and it was Kaycee’s time to shine. We broke tradition and saw each other before the wedding (it’s ok, it was for pictures and we’ve managed to stay married for almost 6 years now) but it I will still never forget seeing her when those doors opened. I didn’t know it at the time but her dad was repeating “Her mother and I do.” When Kaycee asked what he was doing he told her he wanted to be sure he got it right.
Her song was the feather song from Forrest Gump. It was a beautiful song for a beautiful lady. They made it to the front of the auditorium and with one more Reed nod, the fun part began. Honestly, neither of us remember a whole lot about the wedding. We were both so in the moment that we forgot to take it all in. We said our vows and exchanged rings and then the good part! Reed said “You may now kiss your bride!” Woo-Hoo!
We had a plan though. Kaycee is a lot shorter than I am and we wanted to have some extra fun so we stored a small step stool behind where the bridesmaids were lined up. Kaycee, the bridesmaids, and myself were pretty much the only ones who knew about it. You cannot imagine the look on Reed’s face when he said we could kiss and she turned around the other way. It was quite confusing for everyone!
The stool got passed up the line and placed in front of her. She stepped up and we had our kiss. We had no clue what the reaction would be to this and never expected what did happen. The whole place erupted with laughter and applause. It was awesome. With that and another nod from Reed, Foggy Mountain Breakdown came on and we were announced as husband and wife. There is a rumor that I was dancing down the aisle but in reality, I was trying to not step on Kaycee’s dress.
We had a small feast at our reception. Most importantly, we had Yoo-Hoos and white powder doughnuts. These were mine and Kaycee’s snack of choice on our late night trips to the Shell station in Henderson.
Just like the ceremony, we don’t remember a lot about the reception. We talked to a lot of people and gave a lot of hugs. Pretty soon we were lining up to run out of the building to the horse and carriage that was waiting for us. Our last fun addition to our wedding was that we had Lucky Charms cereal thrown at us. Partly because Lucky Charms are awesome and partly because it seemed cool to say that everyone threw lucky charms at us after we got married. Of course I caught a few of them flying through the air and then picked the rest out of Kaycee’s hair as we rode around Lewisburg in the carriage.
We were married and everything was perfect.
To be continued...