This was taken at the Hotel Del Coronado while we were there for our engagement photos on July 30th, 2009. At this point in our trip we had not done the pictures yet, we were waiting for Ananda, our photographer, to arrive. We had just met with the catering manager who was assigned to our wedding, Farrah, and we were a little frustrated because we really were not happy with the venue. Our original plan was to have an intimate wedding on the beach. When I signed the contract with The Del, I was under the impression that the beach we would be married on would be private and allow for an intimate setting. My impression was completely wrong however and when we saw where the wedding was going to be we were very disappointed to say the least. The scary thing is that John was not going to say anything to me about how displeased he was because he did not want to be a "jerk." I managed to get him to open up about what he was feeling and I am so thankful to God that he did because I was feeling the exact same way but would have never said anything. So anyhow, I talked to Farrah about the possibility of moving the wedding to the garden area where we were sitting in this photograph. She told me that our “package was for the beach venue only” and that she “would have to get approval from her director.” I was so upset. She made me feel terrible about our feelings even if she did not mean to. We decided together that if we could not have the wedding moved, we would cancel at The Del and we would just do the wedding in Arizona. So, we left it at that and went on with the photo shoot.
The photo shoot was a blast! We had so much fun taking pictures and jumping in the air. (We did multiple shots where we jumped in the air together and made funny faces ☺ ) Ananda did a pretty good job too. She did not pose us as much as we would have liked but she got many great pictures and we cannot wait to get the CD with all the full resolution photos on it!
On with the story of how God turns a situation you think you can't handle into an amazing, wonderful, and unexpected joy.
The weekend, for me, was excruciating. I emailed Farrah on Friday explaining the situation a bit further. The package we had did not only include the beach venue, in fact, it was for the beach venue, OR a venue called The Garden Patio, the location we both really wanted. That email was early in the morning and I did not hear from her at all that day. John, God bless him, tried to help me by saying he would take the burden of dealing with the venue situation off my hands. I am so appreciative to have a fiancé who cares so much about me and who is willing to do things like that for me, God has truly blessed me. Well, I had a hard time letting it go from my mind. I could not help thinking about it all weekend. How could I? The timeline Danielle and I had set had me sending invitations out by Saturday. Danielle is my wedding coordinator by the way. I could not send invitations out because I had no idea where we were going to get married! You ladies reading this will understand where I am coming from on this. ☺ I was still stressed to say the least. Poor John was trying to make me feel better. Again, I praise God for him, what a man to care so much about how I’m feeling. We were on the phone talking about it Sunday night and I was having a super difficult time feeling okay. On top of the issues with the venue I was having, I was also having an identity crisis with my hair and the enemy was kicking my butt with it. We got off the phone at about 10:30pm, as soon as we hung up I received an email from Farrah. She said that we were approved for The Garden Patio so we were good to go. I should have been overjoyed at this news but as I said before, the enemy was working pretty hard on me that day and all I could think about was how, now, I did not like my dress for the new venue. Before all this went down, I was already questioning the dress. Was it okay to have a white dress and not a wedding dress? Should I have looked more for a dress? Should I have a long dress? I was not going to be able to wear a vale and that bothered me too. I felt like I was missing out on something and now that we were no longer getting married on the beach those questions and concerns were on the forefront of my brain, not because of how the enemy had been beating me up, but because they were honest concerns that I was having.
On Monday, I told my mom the news and explained my dilemma. She said that, if I wanted to get a dress, we could go that day and look! I was so excited. We had a wonderful day together shopping and trying on dresses and this is where God turned a situation I thought I couldn’t handle into an amazing, wonderful and unexpected joy. I found a beautiful gown, I get to wear a vale, and my mom and I were able to have the experience of wedding dress shopping and all that stuff! Again, ladies, I think you will know what I’m talking about.
I really feel like this is a beautiful example of how God turns a situation you think you can't handle into an amazing, wonderful and unexpected joy. I feel like I am actually having a wedding now! The venue is AMAZING, my dress is WONDERFUL, and all this joy God has given me is completely unexpected and truly undeserved. I’m so much more excited than I was before and I am really happy with everything. My excitement and happiness has rubbed off on John and he is excited and happy as well. Praise God for His blessings. I know we do not deserve them but He loves us and blesses us anyhow and we need to remember that always.
I hope you enjoyed that story. I just wanted to share because I think it is cool when God does things like this and we recognize them. I also think that it is important to share when He does this, to show people how amazing He is.
Always in Him and with love,
Nicole
These are some "from our wedding blog" words
by Nicole
