Mayday!
A freak spring snowstorm put this couple's big day on ice!
Jaclyn & Sean Nally - Westminster, Massachusetts
My wedding day was supposed to be the most beautiful and romantic, day of my life, or so I thought. The day was May 18th, 2002. I was raised on a fruit farm in Sterling, Mass., and it was always my dream to have an outdoor wedding at the farm. I figured planning my “special day” in the spring was a safe bet; at the absolute worst, we may get some rain. The days before and the days after the wedding were typical spring-like days, with temperatures in the 60s and a light breeze. Very comfortable.
The morning of the wedding, I woke up to the sounds of people attaching all the sides to our tent, and hooking up a heat blower. Not only was it pouring, it was only about 20 degrees out. As the morning stretched on, I noticed big snowflakes starting to fall from the sky. The heavy downpour had turned quickly into sleet and then snow. Thankfully, the blizzard and the heavy rain ceased just before the ceremony. After the ceremony, and during the pictures, I noticed our neighbor running in and calling my father over. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but looking back, I should have been nervous.
After a couple of hours, we finally made it up to the farm for the reception. As the tent was raised and my husband and I were announced as man and wife for the first time, we entered the tent to see mountains of shavings, piles of hay, and people hovering under large winter coats to stay warm. As the reception went on, I noticed everyone wearing sneakers, golf shoes, or whatever else they had in their cars. By the end of the night, my dress had at least an eight-inch ring of mud around the bottom, but I refused to take it off.
I later found out that the last time it snowed in May was in 1970. |
