Happy Valentine’s Day! On this day of love, we’re all about sharing the love! A Real Bride gives The Wedding Yentas a behind-the-scenes glimpse into her wedding day experience! Taryn takes us through her typical day as she prepares to become a Mrs. and how she looks back fondly on an imperfect meeting that solidified for her they are perfect together.
You can plan and plan and plan and plan, they’d say. You can schedule, organize, and anticipate. You can check your lists twice, bring safety pins, Shout wipes, and an extra crochet hook for your dress. But on your wedding day, expecting the unexpected and rolling with the punches is the very best thing you can do to get the best out of every moment of your day.
As my bridesmaids and I scurried around my parents’ home on our wedding day – mulling over hairstyles, lipstick colors and wedding speeches, I thought about my groom, Todd. I wondered where he was, who he was talking to, and what he had for breakfast. I wondered if he had read the letter I had given a friend to pass along to him the night before. I counted down the hours until I would see him again at our bedeken, because as is customary in Jewish tradition, we had chosen to spend a couple of days apart before our wedding day. Some believe that the tradition is based on the idea that separation prevents the bride and groom from hurting each other emotionally during the inevitable stress during those final days, but we found great significance in another interpretation. We believe that the tradition encourages us to separate so that on the holiest day of our lives, the levels of joy and excitement are enhanced.
The anticipation was making me giddy inside! I couldn’t wait to be together again to share in the magic of our wedding day.
One of my bridesmaids sat quietly trying on different pairs of earrings to match the necklace I had given her that day. Big hoops, small studs and pearls – nothing looked quite right. I remembered about a pair of earrings I had that I wanted to lend her, but they were nowhere to be found so I sent my sisters to their bedrooms in search of the perfect pair. As I sat having my hair done, I suddenly remembered I had left the earrings in my car and as soon as the stylist got my veil in place, I ran outside in my bathrobe to grab them.
Before I could even unlock the car door, I looked up and there he was. My handsome groom. Driving around the cul-de-sac with his brother, music blaring out the windows. And there I was, standing in my bright coral bathrobe with my makeup and hair done flawlessly, veiled, staring at the man who would become my husband in less than five hours. Shell-shocked and paralyzed! Why is he here? What do I do? His brother is seeing me without a bra on! Do I run over to the window and sneak Todd a kiss? That’s not part of the plan! We’renotsupposedtoseeeachother! Who arranged this serendipitous fluke?! Wait, this isn’t how our first look was supposed to happen! Is he here to tell me some bad news? And WHY IS HE STILL IN HIS GYM CLOTHES?!
It was the longest three seconds of my life. I quickly realized what was happening when his brother put the car in park, got out and handed me a wedding day letter. I was crouched down behind my car trying to hide from Todd, and his brother and I just laughed. “Here you go,” he said. “I guess you guys couldn’t wait any longer to see each other!”
As I ran back inside, it was the only time I cried that day. I couldn’t wait to tell the girls what happened, and the emotion of that brief reunion completely overwhelmed me. I couldn’t believe the perfectly imperfect timing of Todd’s visit. When I read the words “I love you more than anything and will always be at your side,” I think he really meant always! Even when it wasn’t part of the perfect plan.
