Week 52: Wedding Disaster.
To quote: How time flies when we’re having fun. Isn’t this the truth? We’re coming up on our last week of 2018 and the fifty-second week in Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge Blog Hop. #MFRWauthor. How about that! Let’s have a party and hope it doesn’t lead up to a disastrous wedding reception.
This week’s topic doesn’t much apply to me in the true sense of disaster.
My first wedding wasn’t a disaster, but it put a black cloud over our wedding day. Our only guests at the wedding ceremony, besides my close friends, were my family. That’s right. None of my in-laws came to our little church wedding except his oldest brother’s wife. She and I had become good friends in the year and a half prior to our wedding.
My family and friends sat on one side of the church. The other side remained lonely. The reverend asked if we wanted to wait until his family arrived. I don’t know how my fiancé felt that day without them there, but his stubbornness in this matter distressed me. But hey, he wore cowboy boots to our wedding! How could I be upset with him? ❤ Ha-Ha. (His were black.)
Backing up here a little, I’ll explain and give a little history. My husband hadn’t invited his mom and dad because they had been on bad terms for a long time—especially with his mother. Without knowing me, she put me in the same category as his ex-wife, which wasn’t good in her eyes. She’d left him and kept the kids hidden from him. His mom didn’t want to see him get hurt again, which I can understand, but she judged me in advance. When I met him, his ex had already been gone two years, and I understand he had gone through hell for a lot of that time. His daughters found him over thirty years later.
His mom’s attitude added to my husband’s animosity toward her, so they didn’t receive an invitation. Before we married, we lived together, and she might’ve come over three times to bitch at him—ignoring me each time as if I wasn’t there. My father-in-law used to sneak over at night and didn’t have any problems getting to know me.
My husband left it up to his brothers to attend our wedding or not. They chose not to. However, his brothers and I had grown close over the time he and I went together prior to our wedding. I understood they didn’t want to get on their mom’s bad side, but it hurt. They did come to the “after party” at our house.
My cake was similar to this two-layer with an additional small top layer. The lace on the middle layer matches the lace covering my short wedding dress. I remember seeing my dad walking into my house carrying the cake so carefully! Normally, when my dad came to visit, he’d be in and out in a rush, but at our little party, I didn’t think he’d ever leave!
Eventually my mother-in-law came around and things were great between us. She gave me her family recipes. She and my husband had reconciled not long after our wedding. I was pregnant with my second child when she passed away at the young age of fifty-seven. It shook up the whole family, and I’m glad we got to know each other and had enjoyed good years together.
Other participants in this blog hop can be found HERE.
It’s been fun for me to be a participant in this blog challenge for the past two years. I’ve communicated with authors I never would have met outside of this challenge other than maybe through a couple writer’s groups we may share like the #MFRWauthor Yahoo marketing group. I don’t know what the future holds for this blog challenge, but I’m glad I joined in and wrote on the topics and weeks that I could. Cheers to the authors who participated each week and to those of us who did our best.
Happy New Year to every one of you! Wishing you all the best in 2019.
Happy Writing, authors.
Happy Reading, readers. (This includes all of us.) ❤
Hugs!
Wedding Cake: Pixabay – jeremywongweddings
Boots and Flowers: Pixabay.
Featured Image: Pixabay BattershellTactical
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
15 thoughts on “#AmWriting Week 52 #MFRWauthor ~ Lonely Church Pews”
henhousepublishing
I’m glad that the family squabbles and animosity faded. Sometimes how one begins does not determine how one proceeds.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Good point, Holly. Thankfully. Happy New Year! I see the blog challenge is continuing.
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D. Wallace Peach
My parents didn’t come to my first wedding, Mary, so I can relate to that “dark cloud.” I’m glad that over time fences can be mended, and it’s good to hear that you got some amiable years in before your MIL passed away. Congrats on finishing a year of prompts! Happy New Year. 🙂
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Happy New Year, Diana! Oh, boy, not another one who didn’t have important people at their wedding. We have to do what we have to do. I wasn’t about to cancel. I almost did call it off the day before for my second wedding. I didn’t want to write about that, though. Thanks about the blog challenge. I didn’t make each week, but I did darn good, anyway.
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D. Wallace Peach
😀 All fine in the long run though. If not for that doomed wedding, I wouldn’t have a great kid and grandkid. 🙂
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storimom2
My future in-laws almost didn’t come to mine, since it was the Friday before Election Day and my MIL was in charge of the election committee. Her co-workers found out about it and told her to attend the wedding; they had everything under control!
My wedding was also small, and everyone sat on one side of the church.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
I don’t feel so alone now, Molly, with having only one side of the church taken. I’m glad your MIL was able to make it to yours.
Thanks for reading.
Happy New Year!
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Teagan R. Geneviene
I’m glad the relationship with your former mother-in-law eventually became good, Mary.
That lop-sided church sounds like my wedding with psycho-ex. Except he demanded that I buy an entire box of invitations for his friends/family — but never sent them… I had the ushers try and seat people on both sides, but they kept moving to “my” side. LOL.
Here’s to being single! Hugs.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Wow, Teagan, it sounds like you could write your own post under this topic, if not for having to remember the psycho part. I wouldn’t want to put you through that.
Yes, it was fantastic that we all had a good relationship. It was too bad my youngest never got to know memaw, but papaw was still around for many years to come. Happy New Year!
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Teagan R. Geneviene
Hahaha. You knew I was holding back. It would make a great “dark comedy” if I could manage to see the humor in it.
I just learned my future town had a huge snow storm. Rare there. Now I’m more worried than ever about moving in winter. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Have a sublime Sunday, my friend.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
You know where to kick that worry. One, two, three, now kick…
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Ed Hoornaert
Wow — you had a very dramatic wedding. I’m glad time healed some of the wounds. Happy New Years, Mary!
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
Yes. If only we could see into the future. On the other hand, I’m not sure I’d want to. Happy New Year to you, Ed! Thanks for stopping by.
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Jacquie Biggar
Families, be they ever so humble… 🙂
I’m glad your in-laws came around after the wedding. It must have been a stressful time.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
It was, Jacquie. Additional stress isn’t what a bride needs. I expected his mom to pop in to object. My dad might’ve had something to say about that.
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