With all the planning the goes into a wedding, it’s reasonable to ask “what if something goes wrong?” Rain plans, plan-bs, these are typical when it comes to any event. But what if a key, critical vendor for your special day was a no-show?
Well this is exactly what happened at Melissa and Mike’s recent wedding at Scotland Run Golf Club when her officiant failed to show up. Yes – the person responsible for actually marrying the happy couple was a no-show. This is when the amazing photographers, Tami and Ryan Photography, stepped up to the plate and saved the day. We’ll let them tell the story:
From Tami and Ryan:
When we arrived at Scotland Run, everything ran smoothly. Melissa got dressed, and had a special first look with her son. We had just finished up some pre-ceremony portraits of Mike, when Ryan was approached by Sean (from Center Stage Entertainment) and asked if he had seen the Officiant yet. The officiant was supposed to meet Sean about 25 minutes prior to review the ceremony. It was at that point that Sean, and several people attempted to contact the Officiant, with no luck. Finally, a few minutes before the ceremony was set to start, Sean was finally able to get ahold of the Officiant. Every couples worst fear came true – he was not coming. (His wife had been in a car accident, and he was going to her)
As Sean told Mike that the officiant was not coming, you could see the blood drain from his face and his eyes start to tear up. However, Ryan quickly let him know that he is in fact ordained! So, after telling Melissa, the bride, about the current situation, she luckily had a copy of the script for the ceremony in her email. The wedding coordinators at Scotland Run were able to print it out for Ryan, and he was able to quickly review it before walking down the aisle and officiate the ceremony! The ceremony was beautiful, it included a puzzle ceremony, where Melissa’s son joined them, and it ended with the traditional breaking of the glass, a huge “Mazel Tov!” and a kiss by the new Mr & Mrs Amato!
Rewind about 10+ years ago, Ryan and I were capturing a wedding, and the officiant was late and almost didn’t make it. It was after this wedding that we decided that Ryan would become ordained, just in case a situation like this would arise. We never want our couples to not be able to get married on the day that they intended. No matter what, we have our couples backs and always want to be there for them!!!
Throughout the years, on several occasions, Ryan has had to start preparing to perform the ceremony if the officiant didn’t show up, but thankfully, each time, the officiant finally did arrive. So, up until this day, Ryan has never had to actually officiate a wedding in a last minute emergency, but we are SO VERY thankful that he was ordained and able to avert a crisis on Michael & Melissa’s big day!
From the Couple:
Mike said that his mind was going about 100mph, so when Sean came to him to let him know that the officiant wasn’t coming, he was confused and of course his anxiety went into overdrive. But Ryan calmed him down and managed to step up in a time of need and was able to keep the ceremony on track. Mike said that Ryan did a great job and the crisis was easily averted
Melissa said that the ceremony was absolutely beautiful and for all things considered, they couldn’t be happier that Ryan came through in a time of need. She said that this will be their story to tell when people ask about their wedding.
Their Full Real Wedding:
Photographer/Officiant: Tami and Ryan Photography