The Wedding That Wasn't

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Tammy and Steve were getting married today. Steve had his black and purple suit all pressed, ready, and hanging on the back of the door. Tammy had her long, lacy, flowing white dress hanging on the back of her bedroom door as well. 

         Her dress was adorned with hundreds of beads and white sequins. The lace flowed in layers. The train went halfway down the aisle of the church. The veil also flowed in layers of lace, with a beautiful beaded comb adorned with a large white rose to hold it in place.

         Steve’s suit consisted of a black pants and jacket, a lilac colored shirt, and a royal purple tie. His shoes were shined so well that the overhead light in the room gleamed off of them. 

The groomsmen would be dressed likewise. Tammy’s bridesmaids were wearing floor length dresses of lilac. They had belts and shoes of royal purple. The flowers that were to adorn the church were also in the two shades of purple.

Tammy was wide awake way too early that morning. Her nerves would not allow her to go back to sleep, so she got up and made herself a light breakfast and a cup of coffee. When she finished with that, she went into her room and began laying out her undergarments, makeup, and jewelry. She knew she was fidgeting, but her nerves wouldn’t allow her to sit still.

Just as she was looking for something else to do, her maid of honor, Rebecca, called. 

“Tammy, honey, I don’t want to worry you, but the caterer called. They will be running about an hour and a half late because they had an equipment malfunction.”

“Oh, no. That will put everything behind schedule.” Tammy exclaimed.

“I’m working on rearranging things. Maybe you guys could open the gifts first, and by then the food should be there.”

Tammy agreed to this scheduling change, although she wasn’t very happy about it. She and Steve had set out all the details in the order that they wanted them. This would end up moving everything around, but what could they do? She picked up the phone and called Steve to give him the news.

Steve comforted her over the phone, telling her that everything would work out. The main thing was that they would finally be husband and wife. Nothing could change that. She hung up feeling a little better.

“What’s happening?” asked the best man, Roger.

Steve explained what was going on regarding the caterer and the schedule changes. While he was talking to Roger, Roger’s phone rang. Roger excused himself and answered. When he hung up, he gave Steve a look.

“Buddy, I have some really crappy news for you.”

“What now?” Steve asked.

“That was the band. They just canceled. Apparently, the drummer and the lead singer had a falling out, and the band split up this morning. They will absolutely not make an exception. But, I will save the day. I will go home and grab my records and my turntable and we will definitely have music.”

“That won’t be the same at all. Tammy is going to have a meltdown.”

“So don’t tell her.”

“Oh, that’s a great way to start a marriage. Just keep a major secret about our reception from my bride. Now we know why you will never get married.”

Steve picked up his phone to call Tammy. Before he could dial, a text message came through from his mother, who was supposed to be picking up the bouquets for Tammy and the bridesmaids and the boutonnieres for the groomsmen and Steve. The text read ‘Son, I am so sorry but I can’t pick up the flowers for you. Dad broke his leg and we are on our way to the hospital.’

Great, just great, Steve thought. Then he immediately felt bad. His dad was hurt, and he certainly hadn’t done it on purpose. Steve walked over to Roger.

“How upset was she?” Roger asked.

“Didn’t even get to call her, my man.”

Steve explained to Roger what had happened, and Roger left to pick up the flowers. In the meantime, Steve again picked up the phone to call Tammy. This time he was able to make the call, and Tammy was understandably very upset about everything that was coinciding to ruin their big day. Steve calmed her, telling her that the most important thing was the two of them standing together to exchange those vows. She agreed, and they hung up.

Steve’s phone rang in his room at about the same time that Rebecca’s rang in Tammy’s room. Rebecca had just begun helping Tammy apply her makeup, and she chose to ignore the call. However, the stupid phone kept ringing, so she eventually answered.

The news that the two of them received was the worst so far. Roger was calling Steve to tell him that he had been in a pretty bad accident, and couldn’t get the flowers. At that point, he didn’t even know if he could make it to the wedding. Rebecca’s call was from the company that was delivering the wedding cake to the reception hall. They, too had been in a terrible accident, and the cake had been ruined. It turned out that the delivery van and Roger had crashed into each other.

Tammy began crying at the news. First, no food. Then, no band. Now, no flowers and no cake. She wouldn’t even have her bouquet to carry and throw. She called Steve and told him that maybe they should call the whole thing off. Steve vehemently disagreed. He told her that there was no one for him to send, but he would get dressed early and go get the flowers himself. They hung up and Steve quickly got dressed in his dapper suit and left, headed for the florist.

Tammy got dressed, had her makeup and hair done, and headed to the church, which was across the street from where she was. She took her place and waited for the music that would be her cue to enter. She couldn’t wait to see Steve at the altar. She knew how handsome he would look, all dressed up in his suit.

As she waited, she began to wonder what was taking so long. Rebecca had never shown up to bring her the bouquet, and she began to have a feeling that Steve hadn’t returned. Maybe he had decided to cut out and leave her at the altar. 

Finally, she had had enough. She headed out of the brides’ room to find Rebecca. When she located her, Rebecca told her that Steve had never come back. Tammy was beside herself. She tried his cell, although Rebecca had been trying it, and received no answer. Eventually, she headed to the front of the church to face all of their friends and relatives.

“I’m sorry that you wasted your time coming here today. It appears that Steve has decided not to marry me and instead of being man enough to say so, he has just disappeared and will not answer his cell phone. Please, collect whatever gifts you brought on your way out. This will not be re-scheduled.”

With that statement, Tammy headed back to where she had come from and sliced her dress into hundreds of little pieces. She was so mad! How dare he do this to her. Her phone began ringing, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone and she refused to answer. Besides, she didn’t recognize the number. 

After the phone ringing on and off incessantly for over an hour, she decided to answer. It was the hospital. Steve had been hit by a bus on his way to the florist. He was in critical condition, and asking for her. She needed to come as quickly as possible. His situation was dire.

Tammy rushed to the hospital, feeling horrible about all of the things she had said and done. She should have known that Steve would never treat her in such a horrible way. She rushed into his room to tell him that she still loved him – but by then, it was too late.