Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Story Corner - The Big Day

Jessica has been throwing phrases around like "obligation" and "have-to" and "owe me" in her attempts to gently persuade me to contribute to the blog. In an effort to entreat I will hit some highlights from our big day.

I vividly remember getting a call the (Friday) night before the big day as I was out with some friends. Jessica derives great satisfaction from calling the outing my "bachelor party" because of the years of discomfort her terminology generated for me. No adult on earth equates the events of that evening with a bachelor party. Perhaps there are some kindergartners who might, but even there we would be hard pressed to find many. So in the middle of the "festivities" I get a call from Jessica. She is in tears. She is hysterical. She is going on and on about something. I can make out "wedding license" being thrown generously. Finally, I am able to deduce two things from her ravings.

1.) We have no wedding license.

2.) It is all my fault.

I don't know if it was her overwhelming reaction or my friends jeers in the background, but the whole thing struck me as kind of funny. So after feigning heartfelt concern, I hung up and proceeded to have a good laugh about it with my buddies.

This being my 1st marriage, I was unaware that it was the man's responsibility to acquire the wedding license. Much like the customary "talk with the father-in-law, " I was oblivious to this tradition of western matrimony. I also didn't quite grasp the full import of the little slip of paper. Apparently ... and you will probably be as shocked as I was when you hear this ... you cannot get married without one! Even the LDS Temple won't perform the ceremony without this license (except in Las Vegas ... even the Temple is a little looser in Vegas).

So we went to bed that night not sure whether or not there would be the much anticipated wedding in the morning. As legend now has it, my mother-in-law locked herself in her closet tearfully pleading in prayer that we would somehow be able to resolve this. Meanwhile calls were made all over to find out if we could still get married and fill out the paperwork later (nope!). So My father-in-law pulled some strings and got a local judge to open a courthouse on a Saturday morning dragging in some poor clerk to do us a big favor.

In the end we got the license and lots of exercise as we frantically dressed, shaved and prepped for the ceremony while racing from San Joaquin valley to the East Bay . This made for a memorable morning and made me feel kind of like I had crossed a finish line out of breath as we exchanged vows in the nick of time. Little did I know that the hectic pace of that day was but a primer for the many that would follow it. Yet for some reason the details of that day stick, while all the others seem to fade.

23 comments:

Carie said...

I love this story.

Lauren in GA said...

Wow...as if the big day wouldn't have been action packed enough...

Love the writing here, "and you will probably be as shocked as I was when you hear this...you cannot get married without one!"

The two of you look great in the picture...you cannot tell you had to wind sprint to get there ;)

Jake said...

More bachelor party info, please.

Erika said...

Ryan - keeping up the blog should be enough of a present for your 11th anniversary.

G and G Nut said...

Thank goodness you hung out with people who had direct lines to Heaven and the courthouse!
xoxoxo

Rochelleht said...

Oh, wow. I had serious heart palpitations reading that. I almost didn't make it to the end. So glad you didn't have one of those 7:00 am sealing times. OUCH!

Bridget said...

That is some serious faith you guys had. Glad it worked out. I was late to my wedding. Nathan thought maybe I was going to "leave him at the altar." It just took me a long time to get my hair just right.

Kimberly said...

Wow. Glad Jessica's dad knew how to throw his weight around!

Cami said...

Is there a way to express eyes bulging out of their sockets in a comment?
Yikes!
I'm glad it worked out in the end because it's obvious that you were meant to be.

Margaret said...

And yet you both look so calm in this picture!

I need to try some of Jessica's guilt techniques to getting my hubby to blog more!

Elizabeth Caldwell said...

I've got a nickle that says none of your sons will forget that important piece of paper :)

Glad you had strings to pull - that coulda been real ugly.

Laurie said...

Good to have connections on a Saturday! Whew.

Marcie said...

This is a great story!

Maybe that's the reason we all got sick after the reception!!!!

We love you and are happy you're in our family :o)

Jenibelle said...

Thank goodness I had that chat with my son-in-law, HE didn't forget that.

Ilene said...

First of all, I'm glad you specified that this current marriage is your first. Is this so we are not to be confused with an upcoming second?

This must be one of three times where Jessica can actually say that you failed at some sort of project. As I understand it you are Mr. Project.

I didn't know the wedding license was a guy thing either so I took care of it. Good thing, too, or I expect Dan and I would have had a similar story.

the wrath of khandrea said...

something to consider:
you should've run like mad when you had the chance. now look- you have like 48 kids and a wife! jeeze.

Anisa said...

Glad to hear from Ryan. I was under the impression that the man had absolutely no responsibilites at all. Sorry that fell on you.

Tristan said...

Jessica was such a beautiful bride! This is a great story!

Paige said...

Oh I remember this well. I thought that both of you forgetting the marriage license was somehow a Darwin's "survival of the fittest" plot to prevent you two from getting married. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Melissa said...

oh my gosh! Man you guys are luuuuucky! ;)

Melissa said...

oh my gosh! Man you guys are luuuuucky! ;)

bloggingchristy said...

You two kids look adorable. At least it looks like you may have made one mistake in your life. At least it wasn't when you were married. At least you have made it through that part of your life mistake-free. Phew!!

TexasTwinsTwice said...

haha--how funny! As one that was actually married in the Las Vegas temple (oh yes I get looks when I say I was married in Vegas), I can tell you that YOU DO indeed need to have a marriage license there. The flexibility comes in WHEN you can get the license from the proper authorities. I believe the office is open 24 hrs. =)