Member-only story
My Fairy-tale Wedding Didn’t Get Me To Happily Ever After
Why I’m doing it differently the second time around
“Are you a princess?” a little girl stared up at me. I stepped out of the vintage car in my designer gown, with it’s huge train and even longer veil sweeping the ground behind me, and I did feel like a princess.
I shook my head and smiled. “No, I’m getting married,” I replied. Her eyes sparkled with a look that said she knew my secret. She’d be telling her friends later that she’d seen a real princess.
My wedding day was a royal entrance into a huge family. Every detail was perfect: the old cathedral with red carpet to walk down, the grand piano, the beautifully dressed bridal party. Photos were taken in perfectly planned spots all over the city: a white sand beach, gates with wrought iron hearts, an old red phone-box, a quaint wharf. And the reception! The large reception was held in a setting with views of the sea so stunning that when I showed the photos later to friends who weren’t at the wedding they asked which studio backdrop we’d used.
My wedding day could have rivalled Cinderella’s. It was a complete fairy-tale.
Just like in a fairy-tale, I’d been swept off my feet in a very quick, intense romance, gotten engaged and was married before a year was over.
