Weddingbee boards

Before I begin my little story, I'd like to go ahead and get the main point out in the open:

Never ride an ATV in your wedding dress. 

There's the best wedding advice I can possibly give to anyone planning their wedding.  I got married to the love of my life last Saturday, May 21st.  It was an all outdoor destination wedding in the mountains of North Carolina, and I couldn't have asked for more perfect weather (even though it called for storms).  It took place at a Christmas Tree Farm, and following the ceremony, the wedding party decided to go take some cute pictures amongst the trees, which was down a pretty steep hill.  My walk down in heels was pretty rough, so on the way up, my *husband!* decided to run and get the John Deere Gator to give me a ride up the hill.  We thought it was a pretty good photo op, so *husband!* sped up a bit and we were all smiles.  Then, the worst thing that could possibly happen, happened.  The train of my dress got caught in the wheel well, yanked me completely off of the vehicle, and ripped my dress practically in half and off of my body.  Thank the Lord, though, the inside liner stayed in place and I was not ever revealed to the photographers, family, wedding party, etc that was all present to see this go down.  My beautiful La Sposa gown was hardly even recognizable as a dress any more.  The owners of this adorable Christmas tree farm, came running out, got what was left off of my dress, gave me one of their own personal bath robes, and sent the entire wedding party into their house, with all kinds of alcohol in tow (let me tell you... I was in NO shape to refuse a little alcohol at that point).  I was COMPLETELY devastated.  I called my mom to have her run into town and look for a white dress, but rural NC is R-U-R-A-L and there were no stores open on Saturday at 4:30pm.  While I was in panic mode, the farm owner's fiancee had taken my dress to her sewing workshop and was trying to put it back together, an attempt I thought for sure was hopeless.  After about an hour, she calls me into her room, and says she needs me to try it back on.  As soon as I tried it back on took a glance in the mirror I immediately began sobbing.  She had completely saved my dress!!  With only a few tire marks and grass stains, and a strategically-placed brooch, which looked purely decorative, but was truly holding a huge hole together, I was ready for my reception, only ONE HOUR LATE!!  I had been feeling guilty for making my guests travel so far for our wedding (most everyone is from Florida), but I've come to realize that nowhere else would anyone come running out with their sewing machine jumping to fix my wedding dress with so much pressure on their shoulders, and with such grace and looking for nothing in return.  I now have a completely renewed appreciation for southern hospitality.  And so, my lesson to you planning-bees, is first, to never be afraid that something will go wrong.  Chances are, it will, but it probably won't be as bad as falling off of a moving vehicle and having your dress ripped off of you!  :)  And second, don't stress, because even if disaster does strike, you will be surrounded by your most loved family and friends (and maybe even a few strangers!)  who will do anything to help.  Lastly, a little wedding day catastrophe may be awful at the moment, but can end up making for a really good story.  :)

And now for some pictures!! 

Picture 1: Pre-disaster

Picture 2: Post-disaster; still a little teary-eyed (only visible difference is the brooch you can see on my left hip holding everything in place!)

True southern hospitality at it's best.  What a great story (not that your dress was ruined, but the fact that everything was turned around).  Thanks for sharing. 

 I love this post's ending, I'm so glad everything worked out for you!

@mightywombat: A nice card, a bottle of wine, a box of chocolate and flowers.  Still didn't seem like enough!!

That is absolutely outrageous! I am so glad it turned out well, though!

Hurrah for fantastic strangers! If anything that dramatic happens at our wedding (which I hope it won't!), I hope we'll have someone that amazing nearby!

Congratulations by the way :)