"I'm All Shook Up"

The 2008 year was a brutal year for weddings due to the huge scope of construction on the Old Mission for the retrofit. The old terra cotta Spanish tiles were removed from most of the roofs and stored on site behind stylish chain link fences in front of the church (my own favorite spot!?) and in the parking lot. Huge timbers that could be the framework for a Portugese Galleon war ship were used to prop up the church. All priceless artwork, statues, candles and anything that could add ambiance to the church were removed for safe keeping. Deep, dark, ugly pits were dug in the front of the church steps for historical excavation and engineering purposes then left, gaping wide open and unfilled. Lovely yellow streamers screaming "DO NOT ENTER" were freely tied everywhere on everything all the time. This was the eye popping sight to take in as the wedding party, families and guests arrived at the church!

My phone started ringing...

The brides were crying when they called me.

The grooms were going ballistic when they called because they couldn't make the brides stop crying.

The bridesmaids were calling because the bride was still crying and this was NOT the wedding day the bride had dreamed about since she was a little girl playing with Barbies.

The groomsmen were calling because they were pretty sure that the eight or ten of them could lift all the chain link fences and roofing tiles to another location in one hour. No mention that they were going to put it all back after the wedding or where exactly they were going to put it all.

The parents were calling and wondering in strong words will the construction be over in time for the wedding.

The photographers were calling and wanted to erect six 14ft tall flood lights inside the church since the lights had been disconnected.

The florists were calling and wanted to know where they were meant to drop off the flowers now that the parking lot was full of forklifts, trucks, dump trucks, fencing, roof tiles and a monolith dumpster for construction debris.

The musicians were calling because the electricians had disconnected the sound system and I needed to whip out my screwdriver and fix that immediately.

The videographers were calling because there were absolutely no good camera angles since everything was torn apart.

The Limo drivers were calling to see if they could get the city key to unlock the posts in the plaza so they could pull up to the demolition site called the Mission.

The brides were still crying when they called again.

I would have rather pounded all ten of my fingers with a hammer, stuck five red hot pokers in my eye and given myself a haircut with a buzz saw than answer one more wedding call.

I now know why Quasi Motto didn't want to come down from the Bell Tower. What a smart man! The retrofit was state mandated and the Mission was under pressure to get it completed by 2010. Having a strengthened church structurally, would guarantee a sanctuary for all during times of daily Mass, funerals and weddings. The good news is we married all the couples in our retrofit year, even if they were a little shook up about how it looked! 

Quasi Motto and I would have been great buddies; drinking cafe au lait in our delicate Limoges tea cups and licking the powder sugar off the beignets as we were locked away in our no phone Bell Tower!