Runaway bride has plenty of company

Jennifer Wilbanks is not alone.

The story of the runaway bride from Atlanta echoes throughout the experiences of those who work in the field of wedding services.

Local photographers, caterers and ministers have seen it all.

There was the cold-footed bride who drove to the church but refused to get out of her car for 45 minutes.

"They just kept playing the song, playing the song, playing the song," said Charlie Hutchings, owner of Hutchings Photography in Jackson.

After 25 years of wedding photography, Hutchings has experienced the occasional unaccounted-for bride or groom several times.

"At a church in Bollinger County, they were ready for the wedding to start, but there was no groom. They started playing the music, still no groom. They played that music for 30 minutes," said Hutchings. "Still no groom."

Eventually, the music stopped and guests began visiting with each other.

"Two hours after it was supposed to start, boom, through the door comes the groom with his tux thrown over his shoulder," said Hutchings.

Turned out, he'd been caught in a traffic accident and, because his vehicle was stuck in the middle of a line of cars, had borrowed a friend's four-wheel-drive truck, driven up an incline, through a field and back down onto the road in order to get to the ceremony.

Pat Allen, owner of Celebrations Restaurant and Bar in Cape Girardeau, said her role in weddings sometimes becomes more complicated than that of a caterer.

"I have not had a runaway bride, but five or six years ago a groom called on the Monday before the ceremony and said he thought the bride was going to back out," Allen said." Of course, I'm thinking from a caterer's aspect, am I going to get my money?"

The groom had no family here, and Allen became a surrogate mother of sorts over the next few days.

"Up until the Wednesday before, we didn't know if the wedding was going to take place," Allen said.

The wedding did happen, but Allen said she understands why brides get cold feet.

"The week before, you're feeling like you're losing control because you can't have your fingers on everything," she said. "That's a general feeling of all brides, the last minute thoughts of 'Why am I doing this?' It's primarily the stress of the wedding, trying to please everyone."

cmiller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128