Oops I did it again - 5th wedding anniversary with a surprise wedding vow renewal

Cassandra and I renewed our wedding vows at Grose Park on July 5th, a little after 2pm.

I'm leaving out a minor detail: I had no idea about it until 2pm that day.

I've been in the middle of a 'stay'-cation from work and had generally been 'winging it' as far as plans go. I like to do this because our lives are so regimented and scheduled that I like the free form freedom of doing 'whatever'.

Typically, we rent out one of the pavilions at Grose Park for the July 4th fireworks and host a little get together for family and friends. We've done this every year, ever since we moved here in 2005. It had been a long day and night of chasing the kids and watching the fireworks, so I didn't get to sleep until quite late that night.

My mother's birthday is on July 6th, and I was awakened by my father in the afternoon of July 5th with the notion of a surprise birthday party for my mom at Grose Park. I was rushed into getting dressed up with pre-chosen clothes, which I thought was a little strange. I wasn't allowed to drive my car down to the park, which set off more alarms in my head.

I was wondering why I hadn't been told about this party because I was planning on getting her a present that day because it was still a day away. You typically celebrate a birthday on the actual birthday so I was smelling a rat. I was told she was going to get a horse drawn carriage ride, which sounded pretty cool.

Come to find out, the carriage ride was a necessary white lie because the horse and carriage was visible from the road as we pulled in. It was a bit surreal to be back at the same pavilion 24 hours later, but my mom was already there sitting at one of the tables.

I knew what was going on once I saw Cassandra in a new wedding dress, soon-to-be 7 year old Sabrina and 4 year old Juliana dressed up as flower girls, and the cameras flashing. A video camera was rolling. Sure, it was a surprise party, but it wasn't a birthday party.

Of course I said "I do" again, and when my words didn't quite come out right the first time, Juliana, told me very sternly "I do!".

Cassandra and I have always had a very oddball relationship. As bad as this potentially sounds, I met her at her soon-to-be husband's 30th birthday party. At the time, I thought he was an incredibly lucky guy and wished them the best when they married soon after. Eventually, they moved away from the Grand Rapids area and had a daughter who was born 6 days after 9/11, which meant she shared a birthday with my grandfather.

They visited friends in the Grand Rapids area for another friend's wedding and I was able to meet what would be my future adopted daughter, Sabrina. I had no idea at the time that she or Cassandra would be any part of my future. You see, I was still in the mindset of "Wow, Cassandra's husband is such a lucky guy. I'll probably die alone."

A few months after that get together, he had moved back to town, but Cassandra and Sabrina seemed to be absent. I e-mailed Cassandra a few grocery store coupons and asked about what was going on because I was clueless on the matter. I found out they had separated.

A few weeks and a few e-mails later, I was going to a rock show, Fu Manchu/Injected/Headstrong on 02/16/2002 in Cleveland, OH, with a friend of mine from Detroit and wanted to stop by to visit the day after.

I ended up driving out to Troy, Michigan from Grand Rapids, Michigan every weekend from that weekend forward until we moved into our newly built home near Crockery Lake in Chester Township in 2005.

In between that time, we had started dating. She proposed to me. We married. I adopted Sabrina with help from her family. We had a daughter Juliana. All while living on opposite coasts of Michigan.

Unconventional? Definitely.
Would I do it all over again? The picture below is the proof.



Click the thumbnail for the full version of the picture.

Update: Some people thought this post was somewhat negative due to my internal dialogue while getting ready to go to the park. That wasn't the intent at all - it was a great surprise and I'm amazed everyone involved was able to pull it off so well. It was really touching and a great experience!