A Bride's Worst Nightmare

And How Faith, Love and Costco Saved The Day

Over 24 years of pastoral ministry I have seen and conducted an awful lot of weddings, but I have never seen anything like what I witnessed on Saturday July 7th of this year.

I had been out to the venue the night before to conduct the rehearsal. Everything seemed to be well in hand. The wedding was at a farm belonging to friends of the family, and the ceremony went off without a hitch.

They laughed, they vowed, they kissed, they signed and we cheered —just as it’s supposed to be.

Shortly after the ceremony however, while the bride and groom were having their pictures taken the bride received a text from the coordinator indicating that she was terminating the contract, packing up the food and going home.

As a pastor I always assume that there is more to the story, and I believe that must have been the case here. Nobody torpedoes their own business and throws a hand grenade into a wedding without a very good reason indeed. Who knows what happened to this poor lady?

What matters is that two hours before the reception was supposed to happen, she packed up her van and went home.

The bride, understandably, was devastated.

What happened next was nothing less than a miracle of God — and simultaneously a testimony to the power of love, community and friendship.

The family of the bride immediately came together in a circle of prayer.

A few friends from the church huddled around as well. One lady in particular stepped up to the plate. Despite being several months pregnant she wrapped her arms around the devastated young lady bride, looked her in the face and said:

“I’ve got this. You go get your pictures done. Don’t even think about this. I have it covered”.

The bride went off with her man and did as she had been told. She had her pictures taken, and they are absolutely lovely. How she managed to smile like that with everything going on, I will never know.

And while she did it, a group of people from our church and from her new extended family rallied together to save the day — with a little help from Costco.

Calls were made, and people started showing up with strange and marvellous things. A man from our church arrived with a bar-b-q that had to be towed behind a pick up truck. It was a home-made job that appeared to have been designed for the cooking and grilling of dinosaurs.

Shortly thereafter, another truck arrived with 100 pounds of charcoal.

A van departed to the church to get coffee urns, silverware and who knows what else.

And that pregnant lady and the bride’s new father-in-law went to Costco to purchase whatever could be found.

When they arrived (for the second time that day) and explained to the staff what had happened, everyone sprang into action. A new till was opened to by-pass the enormous summer lines; a team was assembled to help them identify the best cuts of meat and all the buns and salad they could carry.

Only 60 minutes late—120 people were served a perfectly cooked meal of steak and salad in a barn on precisely 2 hours notice.

It was undeniably a gift from God.

“Thank God for Costco” was the phrase I heard second most that day after “what an incredibly beautiful bride”.

I went home freshly impressed with the importance of doing life in community. It matters that you get married in the church you grew up in. It matters that people feel invested in your life and happiness. It matters that your best friends are also your brothers and sisters in Christ. It matters that you pray as a family.

And it doesn’t hurt to have a Costco.

N.B. A version of this article was published on the TGC Canada website.

/ PAUL CARTER To listen to Paul’s Into The Word devotional podcast visit the TGC Canada website or find it on iTunes.