I looked like that, or perhaps a slight variation of that, the entire day. Let’s start from the beginning.
Our wedding was on a Saturday. I had taken both Thursday and Friday off, intending to use Thursday to wrap up food preparation tasks for our self-catered feast. Thursday evening, we would load up as many of the vehicles as we were able, and get an early start down to the property on Friday morning. I’m sure you’re surprised that things did not go according to plan.
Thursday was a whirlwind of activity in the house and around town, picking up last-minute items, prepping food, and greeting visitors. Oh, and also? The Enginerd was gone the entire day for his bachelor party. I fully supported this scheduling – he wanted his brother to be in attendance, and I was certain most of the food prep would be done on Wednesday. Thursday was supposed to be easy; wrapping up the loose ends, if you will. It wasn’t.
After a long day in the kitchen, the ladies all decided to just relax for a while. We had made a lot of progress on the food-prep front, and we would finish the rest at the site the next day. For now, we would just have a glass of wine in the backyard. Sold.
Someone dragged out a portable stereo to give us some tunes, and plugged it into the nearest outlet. After a glass (or two) of wine, I retired to bed in giddy excitement of the days to come.
The next morning I came downstairs to a look of panic across Mr. E’s face. We had been storing all of our food for the wedding in a refrigerator in the mud room – the chicken, the pesto, the cream – and it had come unplugged during the night. The panic settling deep into my stomach, I asked how that could have happened. “Whoever plugged in the stereo last night,” he said, “unplugged the fridge to make room for it.”
Oh my.
Trembling, I asked what happened to all the food. E was on his way to check it, and I followed, tears filling my eyes. All of the work that had been poured into the shopping, planning and prepping of food for 130 people. What if it was all ruined? How could we possibly find a way to feed our wedding guests with only a day to figure it out?? These thoughts and a thousand others raced around my head until the lid was opened. And all that panic? For nothing. Since the lid had stayed closed, and the fridge unplugged so late, all of the food was still cold. The temperature inside hadn’t dropped by much, and we were saved. The first disaster of the day was averted, but we would soon learn it wouldn’t be the last…
*Unless otherwise noted, all in this post are personal or guest photos.
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