Catherine & Bruce: Bermuda Wedding

Catherine wrote me to tell her story - it really is quite something, so rather than telling it my way, I thought I'd let her tell it...

"My wedding story is certainly a case of everything going wrong and everything going right. There were 28 of us scheduled to come to Bermuda taking the Celebrity Summit from Newark August 28th.  As you know Hurricane Irene impacted New York and the cruise was pushed back one day.  The next day the cruise was leaving but the flights were all cancelled and the airport in Newark was essentially closed.  We were told to just go to the airport in Toronto anyway because they need to deal with people in person.  We were told there was absolutely nothing they could do and we should make other wedding plans.  My maid of honor, with a broken foot, also had her flight cancelled as did other relatives.  My brothers and sister in law were in New York and didn't know if they should go on the ship or not. A wonderful man from Continental felt so badly for us he worked overtime to do everything he could.  He encouraged people to take other flights and rerouted people to get us all on the flight.  Out of the goodness of their hearts, people gave up their seats for us.  Miraculously, we all made it on the ship, just on time before it departed.

We had an amazing time on board with our family.  My mother had a severe stoke 8 years ago and almost didn't survive, she is now in a wheelchair and this was the first travelling she had done since her stroke. I thought she might be so nervous she would hate it but she had an amazing time.  So did my maid of honor with her a broken foot.

On our wedding day it poured and we had to get married inside, which was a disappointment.  We were all late because the pick-up time had changed, which we were not aware o because the internet was down and so couldn't check email. Then, a wall collapsed on the road, so all the traffic was rerouted and horribly backed up.  But our ceremony was beautiful and we laughed through the
hiccups like the wet Bermuda sand clumping during the sand ceremony. After the wedding it stopped raining for a bit and we were able to get some pictures on the beach, which I was so happy about.

That night on the ship all the waiters on the boat lined the staircaseand clapped for us as we entered the dining room.  Unbeknownst to us thehead pastry chef had made an lovely cake.  All the waiters came around and sang "Happy honeymoon to you".  Later that night we wandered the ship and were congratulated and fussed over by everyone.  At one point I felt a tug at my dress.  I looked down to see a shy little girl who said "You look very beautiful".  I thanked her and as she walked away I heard
her say "Mummy, that lady has a husband now."

We popped into karaoke on the ship, still in our wedding outfits.  Our family was there and we had our first dance to our whole family, including our elderly parents and my 89 year old aunt singing "All you
need is love".  It was perfect in every way. It was true.  All we really needed that day was our loving family around us and the love we share between us.  We have the best families in the world and I knew being married to Bruce would be wonderful but it is even better than I thought.  He lives the vows he made to me every day. He is my best friend in every way.

Sidenote--the adventure didn't stop there.  Obama came to Newark airport the day we were flying out.  After an adventure too long and complicated to get into here, we found ourselves stranded at the airport overnight,sleeping in the luggage area.  Bruce and I slept on a cold luggage cart we dubbed "the honeymoon suite".  My sister-in-law went around in the middle of the night taking pictures of people sleeping.  There is one that always makes me laugh--my dad sleeping with his head on his
suitcase, but a smile still on his face. So that was our honeymoon.  We had a party when we got back where we all gave speeches.  Bruce told funny anecdotes about our trip and our cozy baggage cart.  At the end of his speech he talked about how the "honeymoon" wasn't quite what we had expected etc.... then surprised mewith a project he had been working on that I knew nothing about--a trip to Rome!  We leave in November and I can't wait for our true honeymoon!"