I Had My “Dream” Winter Wedding

Twenty-Five Years Later it was No Longer a Nightmare

Winter weddings always intrigued me; that was the only time I imagined getting married. On December 14,1969, my dream came true, well, sort of. We had a ceremony and were husband and wife, but the ambiance was lacking. Due to a family situation, we needed to get married immediately to stay with his ill grandparents.

So I wore a dress with matching cape, he was in a nice suit. Off we went that Sunday morning, to a little place called Mentone, Alabama. We lived on the Tennessee-Georgia line, but legal age in both places was twenty-one. I was eighteen, which happened to be legal age in Alabama.

Through the back roads to the house of the father-in-law of the assistant clerk of the court of that county, I told myself the place did not matter; we would be married and that was the important thing. That is exactly what we were getting…nothing more.

I gasped when I saw the place they called home. It was like pictures of huts people lived inside back in the 'olden' days. We were both nervous and disappointed. When it came time for him to put the ring on my finger, he dropped it and under the sofa it went. Two of the young boys moved the furniture and (truth, so help me) a chicken flew up from behind.

I was happy and ashamed to be unhappy as well, as we drove home. Billy promised me that day that we would have a REAL wedding on our twenty-fifth anniversary. I assured him it was all fine. As the days, months and years passed, it became just a funny story.

1994 came and around September, my dear husband reminded me it was nearing our 25^th anniversary. I was surprised he remembered first of all, second that he was the one to bring up that promise made so long ago.

We had the wedding of my teenage dreams, in the winter, with snow and it was perfect. My Daddy and brother did the ceremony, my youngest brother gave me away, our two oldest daughters were bridesmaids, the youngest daughter was flower girl and our son was ring bearer. Yes, Mama still cried.

Finally, I was able to have the holly I loved, the long flowing gown of satin and lace, the flowers, candles, music and wonderful reception. Our families were there and all the planning had paid off. I smiled in utter satisfaction.

But something felt off for a second…there was not one chicken in sight.