by Melinda Barr

Created on: March 03, 2009

As the ringing of the telephone cut through the fog of sleep that enveloped me, I groggily groped for the telephone. Brushing the hair out of my eyes with one hand, I fumbled for the telephone with my other.

"Melinda, are your there?" Lorraine's voice scratched with panic. "We have a big problem, girl, and you need to get your butt in here now!" Lorraine, my assistant of five years, was not one to panic or get flustered easily, so she had my immediate attention. "On my way" I mumbled.

As a Banquet Consultant for a renowned establishment, I handled a great deal of last minute crisis situations. In this industry, not only was the client always right, but the client was usually stressed out and nervous as well. Flicking through my file cabinet mind I quickly summed up my case load. I had only one big event for this day, and that was a wedding.

As I entered my office, there was Maria, tear stained and sobbing that her whole day was ruined. I hustled her into my office and this was the story that unfolded. I had worked with Maria for several months now so I had come to know her and her mom quite well. I had quite a few "Bridezilla" stories in my repertoire to date, but this was to be a new one on me.

Maria's wedding ceremony was only three hours away when she was notified that her maid of honor had been in an accident on the way in from the airport. As it was impossible to determine the extent of the girl's injuries until her family had been notified we had no option but to find a replacement. Who would replace her? The ceremony itself was to be a small intimate affair, with most of Maria's guests arriving later for the reception. As is often the case in these transient times, almost all of them were arriving from out of town.

Maria's mom arrived at my office and quickly took charge of her now somewhat subdued daughter. She immediately zoned in on me and quietly said "Melinda, we need your help. I know it is not exactly in your job description, but we have no choice. You are the only person that I think the dress will fit. Will you help us?"

And so it happened that I became a part of the wedding party where I didn't know a soul except the bride and her mother. The Best Man managed to weave a bit of this tale into his speech and many a laugh was shared around the room. A cheer went up as the "real" Maid of Honor arrived half way through the evening. Although she had suffered a broken leg, she was not seriously injured. Maria has quite a unique wedding album. I am in half the pictures and her best friend, crutches and all, is in the other half.

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