Daddy said, "I love You."

There is something magical about any wedding. And, the saying holds true, “There is no ugly bride.” I was one that thought that I had ruined my chances of having a dream wedding. I became pregnant at the age of 18 and felt like I had let my whole family down. We were young, and did not have a lot of money.

The day came nine months after our son was born that we decided it didn’t matter if we had a lot of money, we were getting married. We let family know and apologized for the short notice. My father promised he would do what he could to come. We had some naysayers tell us to just go to the justice of the peace. Others advised not to wear white. My groom coaxed me to believe that we were getting married for us, and we need not worry about what others thought. It was Christmas time, and accepted that we might not have many guest attend. We found a perfect package at an old antebellum home. The package included a beautiful three tier cake, champagne for the guest, and there was no need to decorate. They had beautiful Christmas decorations everywhere. The lady at the local dress shop suggested altering a cream bridesmaid dress she had. It was ordered for a very tall girl that ended up not buying it. I was very short, and she was able to make it have a modest train. This slashed my costs.. A friend had ballerina slippers died to match my dress. I found a velvet baby tux for my son at a second hand store for only two dollars. I found beautiful silk flowers at the craft store at half price. I had another friend that worked at a posh flower shop. She had the designers use my flowers and make me a bouquet. Everything totaled less than 500.00.

With trembling hands, I grasped my bouquet, and tiptoed in my ballerina slippers to the top of the stairs. As I peered down the staircase my eyes landed on my father. All the shame, fear and trepidations dissipated as I saw him mouth the words, “I love you.” His smile was sincere, and a daddy’s pride washed over a little girl’s heart. A song of victory danced in my head and stilled the butterflies flying about in my stomach. It strengthened and empowered a young lady to take a step forward with confidence. The old oak stair treads felt hard and sturdy giving me strength with each step. Daddy embraced me in a hug and offered his arm to take me the rest of my journey to a shy nervous young man. My father had rounded up our family and brought them in a caravan traveling across two states, to come and see his daughter get married. Now, here they were sitting with turned heads offering smiles. Strings of white lights, magnolias and red poinsettias reminded me of the sacrifices these dear ones made to support me just one week before Christmas. And then I saw them. The two most important men in my life. My son and my soon to be husband. They were both in tuxedos. The groom was staring at me. His look conveyed he was glad to see me. As my heart pounded and threatened to burst, I heard whispers, “She is so pretty.” I was happy to stand before my groom. He constantly tugged on his coat. I finally grabbed his hands to help calm his nerves. The traditional vows legitimized my son, and with our kiss we made so many wrongs, right. Ten years later we know we made the right decision. You don’t have to have a lot of money to make a memorable moment perfect!

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