The Wedding Where Everything Went Wrong

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Julia and Sam wanted a perfect wedding. They planned everything for months: a sunny garden, white flowers, a small band, and a three-layer cake. "What could go wrong?" Julia said the night before. Later, she remembered that question very well.

The first problem happened at ten in the morning. The florist arrived with yellow flowers instead of white ones. Julia took a deep breath. "Yellow is cheerful," she said, and she decided not to cry. An hour later, Sam's brother Ray, the best man, went pale. "Where are the rings?" he whispered. They weren't in his pocket. They weren't in the car. Nobody could find them.

While the guests were taking their seats, Waffles, the family dog, walked calmly down the aisle. He was wearing a little bow tie, and he was carrying something in his mouth: a small velvet box. "Waffles!" shouted Ray, and he jumped over two chairs. But the dog thought it was a game, and he ran off across the garden with Ray behind him.

After five long minutes, Ray finally got the box back, covered in dog slobber. The ceremony could begin at last. Julia was walking down the aisle when the microphone stopped working, so the priest had to shout the vows across the garden. Sam was crying with happiness, and Julia was laughing. When they kissed, everybody cheered.

At the reception, a waiter was carrying the cake toward the main table when he tripped on a garden hose. The cake sailed through the air and landed in the pond. A very surprised duck looked at it. "Don't worry," said Sam. "We can eat something else."

Just then, the sky turned dark. Big drops of rain began to fall, then more, then a lot. The guests ran for the tent, screaming and laughing, holding chairs over their heads. The band was still playing, and nobody noticed that the music had become a slow waltz.

Julia looked at Sam. He was soaked, and so was she. Her yellow flowers were falling apart, her dress was heavy with water, and a duck was eating her wedding cake. "Shall we?" she said. He took her hand, and right there, in the middle of the garden, under the rain, they danced. One by one, the guests left the tent to join them. It wasn't the perfect wedding they planned. It was much better.