Yesterday's Wedding

We're not a wedding venue, but every once in a while a nice couple asks if they can get married here. Yesterday, we hosted the marriage of John and Cathy. When John and Cathy asked us back in November if they could get married at the Bee-stro, we said, "Well, let us tell you our plans and you tell us if you are still interested." God love them, they were still interested.

When we closed December 19 for our annual winter hiatus, we jumped right in on remodeling and moving the Bee-stro over to our home, leaving the old Bee-stro building to become a future bed & breakfast location. If you have ever remodeled a home, you know the work it entails. Imagine not just doing a home remodel, but also a major home purge of moving your personal belongings from 3,100 square feet to 1,000 square feet and creating an almost 500 square foot commercial kitchen all in less than 15 weeks. Then, just for fun, throw in hosting a wedding.

John and Cathy came in January to see the space and talk about menu selections. Things looked pretty well intact then. We were wrapping up the final projects in the commercial kitchen and hadn't caused too much damage to the space where the wedding was to be hosted. John and Cathy were having a small wedding and wanted a chapel area, dining area, and dance floor for about 24 guests. By golly, we had the space to do all three, but only this one time.

You see, with John and Cathy getting married in the middle of the remodel, we didn't have to move out all of our dining tables and chairs, we just brought over from the Bee-stro what was needed for the wedding. Since the

old Bee-stro isn't set up for the bed & breakfast, we had the freedom to keep the extra tables and chairs over there. That gave us the space to set up a chapel area and the dance floor.

When John and Cathy stopped by a few weeks ago to drop off the color of her dress and the songs they wanted played for the wedding and reception (I was able to do with Amazon Music.), the place was pretty much a mess. Since ours is an open concept, our home kitchen has been open to the living area. We had just finished the demo of the home kitchen and hadn't started building back. There were some holes in the wall from plumbing being removed, and wiring still being relocated, and our personal living room furniture still in the space with tools and contents from the old cabinets still laying around. John and Cathy probably thought, "There's no way this still won't be a mess at our wedding in two weeks." I wouldn't h

ave blamed them, if they did. Since we are now in the beginning stages of the new "show kitchen" being built back, it allowed us the freedom to use that space for the wedding's dining area.

John and Cathy's wedding was a huge blessing for us personally. In the midst of us being all "elbows and knees" getting stuff done especially the last couple of weeks, it caused us to pause and reminded us of God's perfect timing. It also reminded us that God blesses us with his people to come along side us and help us. We had no idea back in November where we would be on this project at the time of John and Cathy's wedding, but God did. The timing was perfect. God's timing really hit me when we were setting up the tables for the wedding. I had the tables set up one way and thought that would be the way we would have it for the wedding, but the day before, as my friend, Lynn, was decorating them, it hit me to set them a different way. The other way would have worked, but this way was perfect. There's no doubt in my mind that table inspiration came from the One who orchestrates all things.

God also brought the blessings of Lynn, Gabe, Rick, and Judah into our lives. Lynn was the one who had the vision (and the supplies) to do all the decorations for the wedding. She also is a great cheerleader and sounding board.

Andy says we sound alike when we talk we because we have the same passion and vision. Lynn acted as yesterday's wedding coordinator even helping with Cathy's hair and make-up. Gabe has been Andy's sidekick and our muscle. Rick took out the nails of the used flooring we used for the walls, which I know he would say was no big deal, but to us with very little time, it was HUGE. And Judah, well, she's our Girl Friday. There's no way we could have pulled off yesterday's wedding with them each coming along side us.

So, no, we're not a wedding venue, but every once in a while, you do things not in your box. That's usually where the blessings lie.