NICE Testimonial: Wedding Gifts of Kindness

There's nothing like a wedding story to brighten your day! Of course, anyone that has had (or even been to) a wedding knows that glitches are unavoidable. My husband and I got married in Vegas a few years ago, and about 15 minutes prior to the ceremony, we realized that we (okay, I) had left the marriage certificate in the hotel room! Thankfully we were getting married in the hotel chapel, but they don't call it MGM Grand for nothing! Our dads sprinted back to the rooms to search for the certificate and arrived just in time for me to be walked down the aisle. Phew!

Well, Jolene of the Delicate Creature Blog had a little incident of her own! But kindness was abound that day!

A wedding is not only testimony to the love shared between two people, but also proof of the bond of family, friendship and community. I recently had the good fortune of discovering this when I married Nick, the love of my life, on October 18th. We received so many gifts of kindness during our journey to the altar, and there are a couple stories that are significant enough to share here.

We married in a small town about two hours from where we live in Chicago. I realized late in the morning on our wedding day that we had forgotten the rings at Nick’s condo in the city. I immediately thought to call friends who were still in Chicago to see if they could find a way into the condo with the help of a locksmith. With so many things on my mind, I had to let this one go and move forward with the day’s task list.

Little did we know that the groomsmen proactively went to a local jewelry store to see if they could find a ring to stand in for Nick’s. The shopkeeper asked if they were looking for anything special and they told the story of the forgotten rings. They found a ring priced at $100 and as one reached for his wallet, the shopkeeper said it was a worthy cause and to please take the ring for free along with her good wishes!

Thanks to our friends in the city, our rings ended up making it just in time for the ring blessing part of the ceremony. We will keep the stand-in ring as a testament to the goodness & generosity of strangers.

The second story is from our honeymoon. I had researched places to dine while in Northern California and read much about a restaurant named COOK in St Helena. Nick and I sat down for a late-lunch/early-dinner and were seated next to a white-haired and attractive older couple. Because the tables were so close, the four of us started talking about the restaurant, the dishes they had ordered, the town, etc. We found that they were locals who often dined at the restaurant and they discovered that we were newlyweds, which greatly delighted the Mrs. They finished eating shortly thereafter and upon their departure, they told us that as a honeymoon gift to the newlyweds, they had paid for our meal and we were to eat and drink whatever we like and have a great time. We were completely shocked and touched by this beautiful and unexpected gift! We’ll never be able to properly thank the couple, but we will remember to pay it forward at some point in our lives – hopefully when we are married for many moons and meet a couple just getting started in their life together.

Sounds like the good vibes were following Jolene and her new husband as they started their journey as a married couple!

Do you have a NICE:Testimonial that you'd like to share? If so, click here to send me an email!