“Singin’, dancin’, betrothin’ and praisin’ the Lord” in the rain

I set up lots of parties for people every day. What makes a party great is the people throwing it! These particular folks were extra great. They taught me a very important lesson: When you are making the guest list, the first name on the list needs to be the Lord. In fact, after this event I decided to make Him my event-planning partner. I need Him to attend each event. Here’s an example of why:

When people hear they are invited to a Baptist wedding, one of the first things that pops into their minds is whether they’re gonna serve alcohol. Well, in this case, these were “good” Baptists who don’t drink. They loved good food, loved candy, and had the gift of dance.

Let’s back up. 

The day started with a 30% chance of rain. But it’s Florida, so maybe you have a brief sprinkle in the afternoon and then the sun comes back out. No big deal, right? I had 13 employees setting up the outdoor deck for 400 Baptists. Everything was falling into place. The decorations, flowers, bars loaded with candy and other sweets, food stations—gorgeous! These folks spared no expense. Cinderella’s wedding would pale in comparison. 

I was feeling pretty confident until a touch of reality, a harbinger from hell, tapped me on the back. Literally, a single drop of rain hit me on my shoulder. I looked up and around. Behind me was a cloud that only Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz has seen.

I went into some sort of prison-guard, trance-like panic mode—barking obscure orders to my staff: Put this together—but someone says: It’s already together … Don’t talk back! I say.

I know that I clearly said take this apart and put it together again. I was saying anything to maintain control. Immediately my mind raced to the server uniforms I had chosen—white shirts! Clearly a terrible choice if it rains hard, because, other than alcohol, one thing I was pretty certain about was that they didn’t want a wet T-shirt contest. At this point, all I could do was put on a brave face and pray.

Let’s get back to why it’s important that the Lord be first on the guest list. 

Why? Because only He could have done this…. He stopped the rain at three key times: 1) when the parents showed up before the party to approve the layout, 2) when the bride and groom were introduced to their guests, and 3) the first dance! At these three memorable moments the skies cleared and the sun shone. It was truly beautiful. However, God had a greater plan that evening, because it started to rain again and rain hard. Perhaps it was a lesson that sometimes life comes with its share of storms, but after every storm, the sun comes out.

These Baptists seem to know exactly what it all meant. They had faith that no matter what, God wanted them to celebrate this union and have fun doing so. After all, God must have told them to bring their rain boots, because they all had a pair. They put them on and proceeded to dance in the rain. As I mentioned, the Baptists had the gift of dance, and no amount of rain was going to stop them from that.

Tags: Atlas, Fish House, local restaurants, party planning, Pensacola, Receptions, Weddings

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Confessions of a Party Planner