The Bride was Lit up with Love and Fire!

This wedding was OVER THE TOP! The bride had a $4000 wedding dress, the groom wore a Ralph Lauren custom suit and we had flowers and candles everywhere there was a blank square foot. With the $4000 wedding dress was a vintage cathedral length bridal veil that made all us women swoon over. It was gorgeous. Maybe even prettier than the dress! The bride had cousins, aunts, sisters and friends on wedding dress/bridal veil alert to make sure it did not get dirty, smudged or snagged on anything. It all had to be pristine as she walked down the aisle at the Mission. After navigating the Mission grounds for half an hour due to rocks, paver's, rose bushes, arbors, water fountains, birds and tourists; we carefully placed the bride in a holding pattern to go down the aisle with her entourage of cousins, aunts, sisters and friends holding up the dress and veil. 

Months and months before the wedding the bride discussed with me the romantic ambiance of her wedding and how she just "had to have as many candles that could be crammed (I added this extra word because it became so ridiculous) into the church" because this was her dream since she was a little girl. (You would not believe how many times I hear this in explaining why brides need a particular item if they can't come up with a logical reason.) I toned down the number of candles but there were still a ton and I was doing some heavy duty praying that the guests, bridal party and church would not burn down. 

It's the brides entrance music.

The bride is carefully assisted up the stairs to the grand opening of the Mission. The guests are all standing, the trumpets are blaring sweet music of the Wedding March and the bride's father takes his daughters arm with a trembling affectionate smile. The wedding dress of raw silk falls like rich cream off her shoulders and the veil softly whispers behind her as she walks into the perfumed air of roses and scented candles.

She makes it past 10 pews when a guest arriving late, opens the heavy wooden doors of the Mission and a gust of air blows in...

Whoosh!

The brides vintage bridal veil catches the draft and flame of the pew candle...the bride is on fire!

Due to the fragility of the veil, it burns fast and all of a sudden, the bride is tackled down by her father, groomsmen and wedding guests who try to put out the fire. The bride is now rolling around on the hard cement floor screaming, "GET OFF ME YOU MORONS!"

Needless to say, everyone quickly picked themselves off the bride, who remained laying down on the floor with eyes closed. We thought maybe she was knocked out of breath due to the pile-up but her eyes opened and better yet, the laughter came bubbling out and she just lay there and laughed. The groom had reached her side, kissed her and helped to pick her up. By then, everyone was laughing with relief and joy!

Of course we started over again the brides entrance after we blew out all the candles!