Best Day of Their Lives, Wettest Day of the Century

Being a marriage celebrant, I’ve had the wonderful honor of joining couples in marriage, and sharing in their joyous occasions - it’s a very special day. With all this rain lately, I remember one marriage in particular, where the beautiful couple who were so in love and enraptured by their happily ever-after, that not even the wettest day of the century could have rained on their parade; or in this case, their wedding day! You guessed it, it rained on their wedding day. As a matter of fact, it bucketed down like there was no tomorrow! 

The wedding was going to be the most incredible celebration, set on a spacious outback farm, with the reception under a huge farm shed, and the ceremony down by the creek, about 200m down from the shed. Haystacks provided for seating, while an arbor, formed from the branches of a recently fallen gum tree, made for a perfect setting, with the creek running behind as the backdrop. Guests began to slowly arrive, and everything was unfolding better than planned. Until the unthinkable happened. 

What’s your ‘go to’ when things you’ve planned for months, suddenly take a turn and head south? What do we do when things go wrong? How do we feel, and how should we behave? I wish I could say that I was the perfect roll model of self control when things go pear shaped, but sadly, it would be a lie. 

As the bride was exiting the rustic old vehicle that had transported her to the spot, the heavens decided to spoil the party by pouring, what seemed like an entire ocean, onto our heads. And it didn’t stop with just rain – it hailed for good measure! You’d think we all would’ve seen the clouds a ‘comin, and hit the road for the shelter of the shed before the downpour, but it was incredibly sudden. And not wanting to call it quits prematurely, everyone pressed on in hope. However, it was not to be. The 200m dash to the farm shed, was a sight to behold, that’s for sure. The only one who seemed to have escaped the rain, was the bride, who fortunately, was able to leap back into the car. Meanwhile, the rest of us were soaked from head to toe: suits and dresses looked like they’d been through a wash, while we were still wearing them, and hairdos lay a-hangin’ from foreheads, making us look like drowned rats in formal attire. Oh brother! What just happened? 

Aside, from this mishap, and it was a big one, the wedding proceeded, and all was good. And, notably, the couple seemed unfazed. They laughed it off, shrugged their shoulders, and pressed on. Nothing was going to spoil their special day. They were amazing, and they were in love. Their big day was almost ruined, yet you couldn’t have judged it by the smiles on their faces, or by the joy in their festivity and celebration. Wow! As the celebrant, and I didn’t escape the drenching either, I couldn’t help being in awe of the positive manner with which the couple held themselves for the entire night. Wow! This was the best day of their lives, even though it was the wettest day of their lives. They didn’t ignore what had happened, or pretend that it didn’t happen, they just decided to take it all in their stride, and party on. What a happily-ever-after this will be!

 As we’re off and running now in term 4, with Christmas only around the corner, may this story offer you some encouragement. I wish I could say that laughing things off will do the trick each and every time, but once again, this wouldn’t be true. Some of the things we experience, are nothing but disastrous, and sometimes even worse. There are some things that we just can’t change. Smiles and laughter, are unlikely to stop bills, and celebrations won’t stop an illness. But like the married couple, may I encourage you to take the best days of your lives, even when they’re the wettest days in history, and eventually dry yourself off and party up.

 They did, and so did I, and so you will too.

Please bring in your recycling to the school. The mobile reciptacle is stationed at the front carpark behind the bus shelter in school hours as the students are part of the program and move the wheelie bin between 9.15 am and 2.00 pm.

Scouts recycling partner have dontated one Hundred percent of the donations go to our P&C Association.