How Everything Got Stolen The Night Before Our Wedding

When you’re planning your wedding, just about everyone will tell you that things will go wrong. As much as you try to plan, something won’t get set up, something won’t look right, or something will be forgotten. It happens. For me, all of the above happened. And it didn’t matter one bit.

At our rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding, I handed off boxes and boxes of things to my day-of wedding coordinator. I gave her our unity cross, flower girl basket, champagne flutes that were an engagement gift from my in-laws, kate spade cake cutting tools, gifts for my bridesmaids, signs, programs, all the decorations for inside the reception including the card box, photo guest book, wedding favors, framed bridal portraits, photo booth props, and more. If you’re planning a wedding or have planned one recently, you know the kind of items I’m talking about. This way, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this on the day of my wedding. It was out of my hands and checked off my to-do list.

Flash forward to the next day as we’re getting ready for the wedding. My bridesmaids and I are having our hair and make up done, and I keep noticing that our coordinator is pulling my maid of honor out of the room to talk. After she ducked out a few times, she came in with a cell phone and said it was for me.

Now I was really nervous. I was certain someone had been in an accident or someone had an emergency. Was my fiance ok? Was my dad hurt? Was the preacher not coming? I imagined the worst.

It was my wedding coordinator, telling me that her van and everything in it had been stolen overnight. She had been working with the police since 7 a.m. but they had no luck recovering anything so far.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

In tears, she said, “I’ve never ruined anyone’s wedding day before,”

“You have not ruined my wedding day, I promise.” I quickly told her. “You’re safe and my family is safe and I’m still marrying my fiance today. You have not ruined my wedding day.”

She asked me to make up a list of what I remembered that I had given her so that they could try to replace what they could in the next three hours. I wrote that up quickly and sent it off to her (and did NOT tell my mom what was going on.) I didn’t tell her until the end of the night because I didn’t want her to be upset. I did tell my dad, who mostly had the same attitude as me.

I was a little shaken up, mostly because this seemed like it should be a big deal. I asked my maid of honor to get my fiance so I could tell him what happened. I wasn’t done up yet or dressed or anything, so I was okay with seeing him. We talked outside and I told him everything that had happened. He shrugged and said, “Well, we’re still getting married right?” I laughed. From that point on I didn’t worry about a thing.

I will say that there was one thing I was sad about losing. The back of the programs had a section where Andrew and I honored our family members who had passed away and weren’t able to be there on our big day. I wish they had gotten that honor we tried to give them.

The point of this story is clear. If you’re planning a wedding, don’t lose sight of the most important part of your day. You’re marrying your best friend. Everything that you’ve spent months picking out is just stuff. 

 As beautiful as it is, your wedding is just a day. What really matters the most is you’re starting a life with your significant other.

In the end, no one will remember your tablecloths or photo booth props or the favor they took home. They’ll remember the smile on your face after you said “I do.” They’ll remember the look on your husband’s face when he first saw you turn down the aisle. They’ll remember the best moments of all.

thanks for reading,