Written with love, by Dave Page
It was the middle of July on a warm summer day on the rooftop of The London Hotel in West Hollywood. My best friend’s daughter, Stacey, was marrying the love of her life. I was her pastor when she was a girl and she asked me to serve as her wedding officiant.
It appeared to be a perfect day for a wedding. People were making their way to their seats, when out of the blue rain clouds covered the rooftop and it started to pour. Chaos ensued as everyone ran for cover.
“We’re moving the wedding to the ballroom” yelled the wedding coordinator. “Can’t we wait a few minutes to see if the rain stops?” I asked. “No, we need to immediately move everything inside the ballroom” she replied.
I looked at the bride and she looked extremely disappointed. I asked her dad, “What does Stacey want to do?” He replied, “She has dreamed a long time of having her wedding on the rooftop of this hotel.” I made a beeline for the wedding coordinator and informed her of the bride’s wishes. I’ve never done this before or since but I usurped the wedding coordinator’s authority and said, “We are going to wait twenty minutes to see if the rain goes away before we move everything to the ballroom.” She reluctantly agreed to go along with my plan.
Twenty minutes later the clouds parted and the sun smiled on the rooftop of the hotel. The groomsmen got towels and wiped off all the seats. The crowd returned to their seats. Thirty minutes after the rain began the wedding commenced.
Toward the end of the ceremony the DJ played the song “Over the Rainbow.” At the conclusion of the song a rainbow appeared off in the distance over the city of the Los Angeles. A symbol of the grace of God. I pronounced the couple husband and wife, they kissed and the crowd cheered as I presented the couple for the very first time.
The wedding party and guests were patient and waited out the rain. The bride maintained an optimistic attitude, which made all the difference in the world. Everybody worked together to make the ceremony happen.
And Stacey had the wedding of her dreams.
