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The Rehearsal

 


It was Friday, June 13, 2008.  The day before our official wedding ceremony.  It had snowed the day before, but the sun shone brightly on Friday.  We had planned a small ceremony in our backyard, by the creek.  The few friends and family we had invited from out of town were starting to arrive.  Scott, along with his two best men, and I, along with my maid of honor and brother of honor, and my aunt and uncle, all went for a hike on one of our favorite trails that morning.  We laughed, told stories, and soaked in the mountain scenery.  It was a stunning start to the day.

After the hike, we went back to our house and had lunch, did some chores in preparation for the big day, then had to go to Hamilton to pick up the tables and chairs.  One of Scott's best men, Fisher, decided to tag along with us to help load everything.  Scott hooked up one of his trailers and off we went.  

We were nearly to Hamilton when Scott said, "Uh-oh."

"What?" I asked.  

"The trailer has a flat," Scott replied as he looked in his side mirror.  

"I'll call Les Schwab and see if they can fix it," Fisher offered from the back seat.  

I glanced at my watch.  It was 3:00 in the afternoon.  The rehearsal was supposed to start at 4:30, followed by the rehearsal dinner at a local restaurant at 5:30.  We were going to be cutting it close.  

Scott drove straight to Les Schwab, and we all got out and went to the waiting area.  I kept looking at my watch and doing the math.  We still had to go get all the tables and chairs after the tire was fixed.  I had hoped to take a shower before the rehearsal.  I wasn't sure how this was going to work.  I started pacing back and forth in the waiting area, looking at my watch, asking the lady at the counter how much longer it was going to take to fix the tire.  3:00 became 3:30, then 3:45.  

Finally, I looked at Scott.  "I think I should start calling people and telling them we are going to be late."

Fisher nodded.  "Yeah, I don't think we're going to make it on time.  We still need to get the tables and chairs."

I pulled my phone from my pocket and started to make the first call when Scott chimed in.  "Dinner isn't until 5:30.  We have plenty of time."

I looked at him and blinked.  "Yeah, but the rehearsal is at 4:30.  There's no way we're going to make it."

He stared back at me, eyes blank.  "What rehearsal?  Rehearsal for what?"

I stared back at him, then looked at Fisher, who looked back at me, then looked at Scott.  

"The rehearsal is for our wedding tomorrow.  We do a quick run through the ceremony, then we have the dinner," I said.

Scott kept staring at me.  "I thought the dinner WAS the rehearsal."

We all started laughing.  "You never told me there was a rehearsal," Scott said.  And he was right.  I had told everyone, my family, his family, my friends, his friends, the officiant, our wedding party, about the rehearsal and what time they were all supposed to be there.  I had forgotten to tell the most important person of all: my soon-to-be-husband!  

The three of us stood there in the Les Schwab waiting room, laughing until tears rolled down our cheeks.  We were late to the rehearsal, but at least the groom was there!  

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