Down The Aisle…Stories and Tips From The Wedding Front Lines

It ‘s fun to be the first.  First across the finish line, first to get premium tickets to the concert, and first to find that overlooked jewel of a wedding venue.  Recently I had the chance to perform the first ceremony in one of the most overlooked venues in Central Florida.  Whether you are traveling Interstate 4, east from the Orlando airport on Highway 417, or from Kissimmee on the Osceola Parkway you can see Characters in Flight from miles and miles away. 

Located at Downtown Disney, Characters in Flight  is the 72 foot yellow and red helium balloon adorned with the images of your favorite characters like Mary Poppins, Peter Pan, and Dumbo.  Soaring to a lofty height of almost 400 feet above the Central Florida landscape the world’s largest tethered gas balloon gives the perfect platform for a wedding with an almost magical background.  In the panoramic view from the top you can see sights of all four Disney theme parks, Sea World, and Universal. 

David and Ashlee were the first couple to tie the knot high above the ground in August.  Unlike hot air balloons the Characters in Flight balloon is an enclosed helium balloon and tethered to the ground via a 400ft steel cable.  Another departure from a traditional balloon ride is that Characters in Flight can comfortably accommodate the bride and groom, along with about 20 of their guests, minister, photographer, and pilot. 

To reserve your ceremony, please call Sensational Ceremonies at 407-361-7781

Some of the time the greatest moments of inspiration come from what we regard as disasters.
A couple of weeks ago I was scheduled to do a very “interesting” wedding with dogs. No, the dogs were not getting married, but the couple that was getting married asked if I would officiate a wedding where all of us (including me) would have our dogs there. Being a big fan of dogs I thought this was a fun idea. I have been in a wedding before where a dog brought the rings down the aisle, but never where the wedding party and guests were invited to bring their dogs along as well.
That Tuesday morning started off like most weekdays do for me. I took my little run around the local lake and then came back to take my dog, a Weimaraner , for her daily constitutional in the neighborhood. Upon returning home from our walk, I proceeded to go to my daughters’ room to wake my youngest and get her ready for school. As I bent down to shake her from her slumber the dog jumped from underneath my position toward the bed. The pinch collar that she wears on her walks, caught the bottom of my top lip and tore the inside, then up onto my face where the bottom of my nose was sliced into what resembled fish bones.
As blood rushed from my mouth and nose, like something out of a Monty Python movie, I quickly made my way to the bathroom to get things “under control.” After much pressure and ice I was able to get the bleeding down to just a trickle and so I drove the kids to school. In route to the school I called the couple with whom I was to do their wedding at 9am and explained about the accident. I notified them that I had a bloody nose, black eyes, and that I would be more than happy to get an associate to come and do the wedding. They wouldn’t hear of it. They wanted me.
Off to the local park (without my dog in tow) to perform what was to be a most interesting ceremony. There I stood, with bride, groom, and dogs all about, and me with bloody tissue packed inside my nose. Though my head throbbed and my nose continued to bleed I pronounced the couple husband and wife. It was only afterwards, when I took myself to a minor emergency clinic that I was told that in addition to the sliced lip and nose, my nose was also broken.
And it all happened as I got ready to go down the aisles.

A recent wedding at a local golf resort was the latest wedding to provide me with some gut wrenching laughter.  The wedding ceremony was to take place in a beautiful breezeway between the pro-shop and the bar/reception area.  All across the back of the resort was a beautiful intricate verde green wrought iron rail that separated the back porch of the resort from the golf course below.  Attached to this railing were bamboo tiki torches; spaced about every four or five feet across the back. 

In Central Florida there are a few laws of nature that hold true almost all the time; one of which is that there is always a breeze mid afternoon and early evening.  Flames that are fed by a liquid fuel source do no blow out from these afternoon breezes, but flames actually “bend” as the air blows across them. 

When the bridesmaids started making their way down the aisle, the wind whipped up, and two of the bamboo tiki torches actually caught on fire.  The bartender in the club house saw the tikis on fire and ran out to douse them with a pitcher of water.  Well, water and oil do not mix and a fire fueled with oil with only spread with the addition of water. 

I motioned to the bartender as he came close and whispered “use a fire extinguisher.  It will spread with water.”  As the bartender ran back in the club house two of the tiki torches finally succumb to the flames and the canisters fell out of the charred remains of the bamboo tikis.  By this time two more tiki torches were fully engulfed in flames.

Finally the bartender  arrived back to put out the flames with the fire extinguisher and as he did, a huge cloud of  billowing white extinguisher smoke floated through and enveloped the last bridesmaid and the guests.

All this before the bride walked down the aisles and she never saw a thing.