This was posted on my Facebook page the day after my wedding, September 2, 2018…
Wondering why I’m posting so much?
Trying to hold on to the beautiful moments to keep from crying about the horrific moments. Yesterday was absolutely beautiful. Initially it was truly worth the two years of planning, budgeting, sacrificing, and headaches. We got all the way to the reception, cocktail hour concluded, wedding party lined up in the hall to be introduced into the great songs we picked out and ⚡️ BOOM, the whole building loss electricity. 😱 Little did I know my WHOLE wedding reception would never fully commence.
Picture this: 200 guests comfortably seated in a beautifully designed venue ready to eat. Not only were there no lights, the AC was out too. Thankfully, we had some sunlight to serve dinner with some candlelight that served as decor. Oh, cellphone flashlights helped too.
No lights, no music, no air conditioning, no first dance, no mother/daughter dance, no Father dance tribute we prepared for our Daddy’s in heaven, no garter toss, no bouquet toss, limited photography due to lighting, and the closing of our OPEN BAR due to the unfortunate circumstances. Our lovely host had a portable speaker in her car that provided us a few tunes, but it was too hot to dance.
I could have walked all the way to New Jersey last night that’s how furious I was but the strength of our family and friends got us through the afternoon. Everyone stayed to enjoy food & cake. Had no idea we would plan such a big candlelit dinner but Thanks for staying as long as you all did.
Love always,
The Lights Out Bride 💡 #eleGANTlove #LightsOutBride
“Little did I know my WHOLE wedding reception would never fully commence.”
I was bummed for days…. weeks…So shocked I was literally numb to it all. I’m a newlywed, I’m supposed to be smiling endlessly and swinging from the chandeliers (wink wink). All I could do was go home and stare at the wall, literally. Everyone tried to cheer me up, but nothing worked. I had dreamed of the perfect wedding. Never in a million years would I expect a nightmare of an ending. We planned for two years…. two WHOLE years bruh. I loved the planning journey, the excitement and expectation of a fun time for all at the reception. Although upset about the storm and power outage I was ecstatic to finally be Mrs. Gant. "My Schmoody" (Husbands nickname) held me up and really became my peace.
Not too long after the wedding I got word that a group of my close and extended friends (you know who you are 😊) were joining together to start a campaign page for people to donate for a chance for my husband and I to have the reception we anticipated. I cried like a baby…people do not have to be nice. Money was raised, the venue gave us back over half of what we paid for the day and a free date to host another event. My happy was slowly coming back but the thought of the failed reception still haunted me. Thank you for all the wedding gifts and donations. I was overtaken with grief and I never sent out my thank you cards…sorry y’all. The free venue was cool but of course it came with stipulations…we had to host our event before November 2018. After a few nights on Pinterest and the world wide web I decided to have a reception do-over in the form of a Halloween costume party…” Til’ death do us party”.
My friends really pulled it all together…food, decor…DJ…lighting...the works. If you didn’t know… none of my immediate family lives here in NC so they were not able to attend but my extended family, friends and associates made it a fun event. Pause…my Big Brother came back for the event. He was Biggie Smalls and his lady was Lil Kim. It was lit!!!!! We used the venue projector to showcase some of our wedding pics…I wasn’t incredibly happy with the pictures and lack thereof, the weather killed all our vibe on September 1, 2018. We never had a chance to take pictures outside. Our wedding ceremony was beautiful. The reception decor was beautiful too…
There is more…to be continued…
Alicia G.
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