Santa Slays, an Esteemed Sib, and the Diesel Dilemma

The best moments are the ones you frame, but the difficult ones matter, too. In our real weddings series, we ask couples to share their wedding highs and lows.

Nathan & Matthew
From Austin, TX
Married December 15, 2018, Keystone, CO

BEST WEDDING MOMENT

Nathan: For me, the most powerful moment was when Matt danced with his sister. There was a lot of buildup to this dance. We wondered, “Is this going to be too emotional?” But it was just so perfect.

Matthew: My mom passed away when I was 6. My sister has always been in that motherly role. It was a super meaningful moment for both my sister and I, and my sister lost it. It was an important moment on my journey of grief, but it was also one of the happiest moments of my life as well.

“[That dance] was an important moment on my journey of grief, but it was also one of the happiest moments of my life.”

Runner Up: Santa Claus was working at the venue next door. We walked out with the photographer to take night photos, and at the same time Santa Claus was walking by. We were very excited to see Santa and asked him to come inside. It was pretty magical actually. So yes, Santa Claus crashed our wedding.

WORST WEDDING MOMENT

Nathan: We borrowed a vehicle to go get haircuts in a nearby town an hour before our rehearsal. Unbeknownst to us, the car required diesel and there were no diesel stations near the barber. We spent 20 minutes driving around town to find a diesel gas station and got stuck in traffic getting back to the rehearsal. We still needed to write our groomspeople speeches for the rehearsal dinner that night which only added to the stress. But after deep breathing some good mountain air, we made it back on time with speeches written.