2001 – A wedding Odyssey

Posted by Coral Andrews Sep 24, 2006

I remember sitting in my cubicle making my usual calls for orders 9 a.m. that morning (in another lifetime, I worked at the order desk for a major chicken processing conglomerate). My customers were begging me not to travel. "Are you crazy? Please don't go to Balgonie Castle. There's talk of more attacks."

My insides were churning and I felt white hot. Three planes down and now the Pentagon as well. I thought it was the beginning of World War Three. I just wanted to go home.

Despite many well-meant warnings, there was no way I was not going to Balgonie Castle. Tom and I were getting married in an intimate mediaeval ceremony. That was my groom-to-be's dream, and I'll be damned if I was going to shatter it.

Sept 14, 2001 - I remember being freaked out as I stood in a seemingly endless line at Toronto airport. No one was going anywhere fast. I took my cassette deck and mic (I wanted to do some radio features about Scotland for my show Coral FM) and held it above the thundering din. It was surreal. People had been waiting for days. There was another couple there about to get married as well and the bride-to-be was crying.

It was heart-breaking.

Tom and I came back home able to comfort each other within our circle of friends and family for a few days more.

Sept 16, 2001 - Thanks to my father's persistence, Tom and I went to the airport, re-booked on another Glasgow flight. There were other things on my mind. My 14th century burgundy and gold custom-designed wedding gown was still not ready... and my passport had lapsed. How the hell had I let that happen?

I sat, frazzled, waiting anxiously in the airport bar blubbering at a weary Tom, sipping slowly from a huge theraputic tumbler of cabernet. I called my mother and sobbed into the cel phone. She and my best friend who had seen us off, were waiting at a highway rest stop in case they had to come back. In an amazing stroke of good luck, a kindly airport security official felt sorry for me and gave me a special pass to board the plane... but that all seemed so trivial in the bigger scheme of things.

The world was never going to be the same again.

After hours of extra security measures, we finally boarded the plane but I was terrified. The last thing I wanted to do was fly anywhere as I am a nervous flyer to begin with. Horrific images of planes hurling into the Twin Towers were burned into my mind. Tom calmly reassured me this was likely one of the safest times to fly.

Coming from Glasgow by train, we made it to the village of Markinch, in the breath-taking Kingdom of Fife. The townspeople of Markinch were worried about the "Canadian couple", but were relieved to see us sauntering up the lane, to Terras - a combination photographer's/confectioner's shoppe, baggage and one year of planning this dream, still in tact. The shop was just a jaunt down from our lovely B and B cottage and hostess Carol at Wester Marknich

Sept 21,2001 - My wedding gown arrived 40 minutes before I got married. As the Laird of Balgonie escorted me down Balgonie Castle's wee wedding chapel aisle to the harpsong of Bjork's Like Someone in Love I felt our odyssey had been worth it..

Happy Fifth Anniversary Poor Tom.

Love Coral FM.