For the next three days here on Clean Romance Reads Blog, I'm hosting an online party to commemorate my November release from HarperCollins.
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| ABOUT THE BOOK |
My story is titled Serving Up a Sweetheart.
It is one of three novellas included in a 2015 winter weddings anthology from Zondervan titled A Season to Wed.
Isn't the sepia cover gorgeous?
To celebrate the book's release, I'm giving away a free copy per day to three people (one book/person each day) who comments on the day's post before 11pm CST Wednesday (today), Thursday (tomorrow) and Friday (the day after today.)
Since I'm all about interaction and getting to know those of you so graciously becoming part of our community, please share something fun, unexpected, hilarious, meaningful or disastrous that happened at your wedding or the wedding of a loved one or friend.
Ready...set...go!
Also, I'd love to be able to get word out to you about future book news as well as include you in special offers, gifts and freebies exclusive to my newsletter subscribers. So I hope you'll take a moment to sign up for my list here.
(I won't spam you or share your information with a third party. I also won't bombard you with frequent emails.
Cheryl Wyatt
Cheryl!! This is so exciting! Congratulations! Serving Up a Sweetheart is a great story!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have anything funny or hilarious at my own wedding. It was at a church, with the pastor and his wife, and our parents. Not much room for anything to happen lol. Other than my parents hadn't met the groom yet. Does that count?
At my sister's wedding, however, I was the matron of honor. As she and her groom are standing there listening to the preacher before they say their vows, I almost pass out! I heard later that my sister could tell something was going on but I was behind her so she asked the groom what just happened. So he told her. The preacher nor the lady filming had any idea anything was going on. I guess I am a camouflage fainter lol. After they said their vows, the wedding party did a dance train through the crowd. That was a lot of fun! And this was all after a few days before the wedding my sister's nose met the sidewalk and bruised her face. The lady who did her makeup did an awesome job!
How about you, Cheryl? Any fun stories from your wedding?
Oh my goodness, yes! That the parents hadn't met the groom yet is great! Hilarious. How did that go? LOL! Oh my goodness...and you almost passing out at your sister's wedding...I'm glad you didn't. LOL! Camouflage fainter---tee hee!
DeleteMy wedding-people pranked us-a lot! All of the groomsman sprayed us with rainbow silly string after the vows. It was a riot. My dress was covered in it. Wish we'd gotten pics. You could hear the shrieking and laughter on video though.
And I was late because I'd stopped to help a big upside down turtle get out of the road...only when I turned him upright he came after me! Got between me and the door and I was unable to get to my door. He was an enormous river snapper and he kept hissing at me. My friend Kelly who was with me was laughing hysterically because I was standing there arguing with this turtle who made me late for my wedding and I was only trying to save its life. LOL! Whoever said turtles are slow never met THAT turtle. He was a ninja. LOL.
I don't remember why they hadn't met Tim. I was living away from home for one thing so I guess they just never got together. We only dated about 6 months too, from the end of March to October 10. The also didn't find out he was 15 years older than me until much later. We've been married 24 years this past October so it turned out well!
DeleteI'm glad I didn't pass out too. That would have been horrible! I was running around trying to do things and forgot to eat. That'll do it to me!
Your wedding sounds like so much fun! That poor turtle. He wanted to come to the wedding with you. I can see you arguing with that turtle! Did he make into a book yet? The ninja turtle who wrecked havoc lol.
Ha ha! Yep the turtle tormented one of the PJs who took his gal for a ride on a tractor I think. I can't recall which PJ! LOL.
DeleteHappy Belated Anniversary to you and Tim!
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ReplyDeleteWow! Sally, your sister had a hilarious wedding! lol.
ReplyDeleteAnd Cheryl, congrats on a great book!
Didn't she? LOL! Thank you Patricia. It was fun to write.
DeleteYes, she did. It was a lot of fun!
DeleteCONGRATULATIONS CHERYL on your release! Yes, the cover is gorgeous. I was part of a select few that were able to pray around the couple during the ceremony. It was an honor to do so.
ReplyDeleteOh, now that is COOL! Wish we'd done that at our wedding too. What a GREAT idea! So glad you stopped by.
DeleteI just got married in April, and I was totally surprised by the fact that I really teared up during the ceremony!
ReplyDeleteI signed up for your news letter and would love to read this collection.
Thank you, Patty! And congratulations on your marriage!
DeletePatty, you won the drawing for the book for day one. Shoot me your email address at cheryl@cherylwyatt.com and we'll work out details. Congrats!
DeleteCongratulations!!! Will have to bump this to the top of my TBR books!
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any specific wedding stories from people I know except maybe one - when my cousin remarried as a widow, the groom was very serious and wanted everything perfect for their small wedding. When it came time for the rings to b exchanged, they weren't there. Someone had to go out to the car to find them while the wedding was paused. He was so upset instead of going with flow that it became humourous to many of us.
My parents eloped. My mom was 20 so couldnt get married in Ohio without a parent signing off and she had lived with an older sister or on her own for awhile. My grandpa was a minister and said he wouldn't perform the wedding so she couldnt get married. (Not about him not liking my dad. Just controlling) So, they crossed e border to Indiana and eloped. They were married almost 46 years before my dad passed away.
Thank you! Awww, what a sweet story! And how COOL about your parents! Thank you for coming by and sharing.
DeleteI was supposed to sing at a friend's aunt's wedding, but they almost forgot. The sister of the bride slides up and says to the minister, "Kelli's supposed to sing now." The minister had a brief moment of panic - he was a singer, AND his name was Kelly. Then he remembered it was I who was to sing - not him. ��
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Cheryl! Sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteMy friend was married in early December a few years ago and I was part the bridal party. We went to take pictures at the Brooklyn Bay Bridge park and it was FREEZING! If you know anything about this park, even from the name, you can tell it was by the water and free of tall building. We were all donned in our wedding best (for for the girls, that meant some thin lightweight chiffon material) with wind 15 mph blowing our way. We had to keep our smiles going without looking like we were freezing. Next, the other bridesmaids had a "wispy" hairstyle done and the wind had totally messed it up! It was almost to the point of hilarious. Also, maybe because they were taller, so the wind got to them first. Lucky me, my hair stayed put. We had wild pictures of that beautiful and blessed day!
Thanks for the giveaway! Beautiful covers! Would love to win! (and already subscribed). Thanks!
Hello! That's so funny about the wind getting to the taller ones first. Hey, I guess in that situation it would pay to be short. LOL! I'm sure the photos are fun to look at...what awesome memories! Thank you for sharing.
DeleteCongrats! What fun to hear wedding stories. I am very laid back and didn't care what happened during my wedding, so technically nothing went wrong. Lol! One funny thing was our flower girl fell off her chair during prayer and made us all snicker.
ReplyDeleteLOL! How old was the little girl? Mine was my niece and she hated wearing dresses so she pretty much stomped down the parchment paper throwing petals at the floor in a mini-rage. It was hysterical because she had a very definite scowl the entire walk. My husband is laid back too but he was cracking up while his buddies were pranking us throughout the ceremony.
DeleteOh I just love flower girl stories! Ours was my 6 year old niece. I felt naughty laughing during the prayer. Lol. What fun!
DeleteGood morning, Cheryl and congrats! A couple things happened at my wedding.....not sure how funny they are. First, at the reception my new hubby went to open the sparkling cider for us to toast with and when he popped the cork, it flew straight up and hit the ceiling....putting a dent in it. And then, later I was getting out of the car and stepped in a huge mud puddle....with both feet getting stuck in the sticky stuff. Did I mention it rained on our wedding? LOL During the wedding nothing major happened....the ring bearer chickened out and the flower girl snuck into almost every picture taken later. That be it. Have a pleasant Wednesday.
ReplyDeleteHowdy! Oh, oh no! A dented ceiling...lol! And a mud puddle. Those things are begging to belong in a romance novel. Hahaha! I love the flower girl photo bomber and the elusive little ring bearer. So cute! So glad you stopped by. :-)
DeleteCongratulations on your release! The cover is beautiful. I've enjoyed reading the wedding stories. Most weddings I've attended have been uneventful, except for one. My friend, who was the bride, broke her shoe coming down the aisle. Thankfully she didn't break her ankle, only a sprain.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jill, on all counts. Oh, goodness, the shoe! Hope she didn't have to spend her honeymoon in a cast. LOL. Thanks for visiting us today.
DeleteCongratulations on your new release. You are one of the new authors that I intend to read. Weddings like baptisms make me cry tears of joy. I believe my son's wedding had more people reaching for the tissues. When he went to say his vows in accepting his bride as his wife he broke down and sobbed. He was so sensitive that he could not speak. He did finally get the I do's out and its been over 20 years since that day.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you .
Awww, Elsie, that is SO sweet about your son. I can just picture it. Thank you for intending to give my books a try. That means so much and I hope you find them worth your while. Let me know. :-)
DeleteCongratulations, Cheryl. It's a gorgeous cover. At my wedding I was so nervous about the unity candle that once I accomplished the task without setting the church on fire, I got the giggles. And then my husband did, and the pastor had to shush us. Then, when he announced our name, he said Arduini wrong.
ReplyDeleteJulie, I laughed out loud at this and almost aspirated food. Oh my...that is funny. Then getting shushed...too funny! Oh my word...I hope the pastor apologized. LOLOL! Thanks for the kind words. Harper Collins did a great job.
DeleteCongrats on the book. I have such a big family and the guest list kept getting bigger and bigger (if you invite this person, then you have to invite these three other people, etc.), so my husband and I ended up eloping. I don't regret. I love going to weddings, but prepping is a headache.
ReplyDeleteJen, that is a great story! Yes, it's so hard not to offend someone or leave people out. If I had it to do again (God forbid!), I'd elope too. LOL! Good for you! Thank you for coming by.
DeleteCongratulations! Serving Up a Sweetheart looks so good. Who doesn't love a wedding story?! My maid of honor tripped going up to the stairs of the altar. My flower girl started pulling her clothes off.
ReplyDeleteAaaaahhhhaaaa! Oh goodness the flower girl...too funny! I'm cackling over here. A nekkid (lol) flower girl could be a problem. LOLOLOL. I hope your maid of honor didn't hurt herself. How embarrassing! LOL. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteMy sister went to cut her wedding cake and realized that the friend who had made it chose a different design without asking. She looked up at my my mom, who just said, "Smile!" They proceeded to cut the cake and enjoy the rest of the reception. She saved her feelings of disappointment for later and didn't allow them to ruin her special day.
ReplyDeletecolorvibrant at gmail dot com
Heidi, that is an incredible feat...for a bride not to freak out over something like that...especially since it sounds like it was intentional. How awful! LOL. I hope the rest of the ceremony made up for the glitch. Thanks for coming by today!
DeleteHeidi, you won the drawing for Friday's free copy of A Season to Wed. CONGRATS! Contact me via cheryl@cherylwyatt.com to work out details.
DeleteHow fun! Congratulations on the release! Hmmm.... Well, at my wedding, I forgot the guest book and garter back at home and remembered it too late for anyone to go get it! Thankfully, my matron of honor's husband ran out and bought replacements, so it is just a story that makes me laugh 13 years later! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Lynda, oh no! But how sweet that your friend's husband had your back. Nice! I'm glad you're able to laugh about it now. Thanks for dropping by!
DeleteHi Cheryl and congrats on the new book. I can't wait to read it! I love reading the comments, there are some interesting things happening at weddings! :) Two things about my wedding that we laugh about now were: my husband Matt forgot his dress socks and had to send someone to buy new ones. Unfortunately, it was time for pre wedding pictures so he is without socks in those pics. He and his groomsmen took some goofy pics to make fun it. The.second also involved my dear husband. For his "bachelor" party, his groomsmen took him golfing (his fave sport). They all, however, forgot to take sunscreen ......in June......on an all day golfing trip. Of course, they all wore sunglasses....SO.....we had interesting looking groomsmen and groom. Matt wasn't all that pleased that I suggested a little make up to help hide the racoon eyes. Haha. It was a fun day regardless.... :)
ReplyDeleteOops, didn't know I wasn't signed in...
DeleteSherra, the MIA sock story is hilarious. Cherish those photos. LOLOL! Glad they redeemed the situation with humor. I'll bet they all looked like lobsters after baking in the sun. LOL! So I'm guessing your hubby declined the makeover? LOLOL! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteYes, we love looking at the pics and laugh every time. Our 3 girls enjoy hearing about it also! Lol....Matt lovingly but very strongly turned down any offer of make up to hide the redness. Hahaha!! Thankfully you cant see any racoon eyes in the pictures because the photographer did some editing magic so all is good there. (Well I can still see it a little but I know to look for it) lol!!!!
DeletePhotoshop was a blessing in this case, huh? LOL!
DeleteI am thankful that I didn't have any huge disasters at my wedding, but we were supposed to do pictures ahead of time so that people wouldn't have to wait after the wedding for the bulk of the pictures to be taken. My husband was late, almost late for the wedding, too! I was a mad bride before I saw him waiting for me at the end of the aisle!
ReplyDeleteLOL Stephanie! What a relief that he made it...eventually. LOL! I have no room to talk since...well, the turtle and all...hahaha. Thanks for coming by!
DeleteCongrats on the new release. My husband and I had been married for 13 years and had two boys. We divorced and a year and a half later we got remarried. We remarried at a Cowboy church complete with hay bales thst were used as pews. My two boys walked me down the aisle. I had bronchitis and was very sick. The hay didn't help me at all. When it came to the lighting the unity candle, we brought both boys up to join us they were twelve and nine at the time. We allowed the oldest one to light his candle first. He clicked the lighter, burned hid finger and dropped the lighter. Yes there was a little fire that day at the church. A few hay bales caught on fire and quickly spread. Thanks to some quick thinking people, they got the fire out. We continued the ceremony with a haze of smoke surrounding us and I coughing continuously. We laugh now and even have the whole thing on tape. A wedding to remember. But the best part is my husband never gave up on me and knew that God would restore us and get remarried.
ReplyDeleteDeana, this gave me chills! And giggles. I'm SO thankful to know you guys stuck it out and are still together. How funny about the fire. And with you already coughing...wow. Murphy's Law was in effect that day I guess, right? LOL. I'll bet the boys remember it well too. LOLOL! Thank you for stopping by and sharing. What a great example of enduring love.
DeleteWhen I was getting ready to have my photos taken I felt my glasses were loose so I tried to tighten them. Unfortunately, I broke one of the ear pieces and they wouldn't stay on for long. I was able to put them on for each photo but decided that I couldn't use them during the wedding, that actually was great because all I needed to do was look at my guy and no one else. Everything else turned out beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I used to take photos at weddings and it seems there is always something that goes crazy. We found if we could help the bride and groom be calm and know everything was going to be fine, the day always turned out great and we were able to get FANTASTIC photos!
Marylin, that is so cool that the two of you photographed weddings. Did you take any of your own? That would probably be challenging I imagine. I go crazy over wedding photos on Pinterest. Thank you for coming by!
DeleteWhen I was getting ready to have my photos taken I felt my glasses were loose so I tried to tighten them. Unfortunately, I broke one of the ear pieces and they wouldn't stay on for long. I was able to put them on for each photo but decided that I couldn't use them during the wedding, that actually was great because all I needed to do was look at my guy and no one else. Everything else turned out beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I used to take photos at weddings and it seems there is always something that goes crazy. We found if we could help the bride and groom be calm and know everything was going to be fine, the day always turned out great and we were able to get FANTASTIC photos!
I did not find Mr. Right until I was 38. We dated for 3 months before he popped the question, then 3 more months before the Wedding. I found my beautiful Wedding Dress, way more then I was Expecting. It had my favorite kind of Sleeves, bell sleeves. Anyway at the wedding when the Conductor was talking, I started giggling and could not stop. I was giggling because I could not believe I was finally getting married. The Conductor decided to start all over. He said "This is serious." I finally got in control, but I made the Audience laugh. We've been married for 10 years. My Mr. Right is Jonithan George and he is 10 years younger than I.
ReplyDeleteFawn, what a neat name! That is an awesome story. I think the minister should have let you keep on laughing. :-) Congrats on what sound like 10 wonderful years. I'm so glad you stopped by.
DeleteI remember going to a friends wedding. She was the daughter of the one of our former pastors and was like a niece but as she got older became a friend. As she is coming down the isle you can hear her mother crying. the closer to the alter you can hear the bride and bridemaids crying and even the father and parents of the groom had tears in there eyes. There were 4 bridesmaids. Then you see the end groomsman pass down handkerchief down the row to the bride. It was touching but in my warped mind kinda funny too. Then the pastor marrying them Made a funny comment about it being a happy occasion I forget what he said but the whole church burst out in laughter. It was a beautiful service.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new book and yes I love the cover also.
Awwww! That is so sweet. Sounds like she's really loved and people were really happy for her. Hopefully that's what the tears meant. LOLOL! How sweet that the groomsman passed down a tissue. I could see a story starting like that...with a groomsman and a bridesmaid who maybe hadn't met prior. :-)
DeleteHow've you been feeling my friend? Sleeping any better? Is cricket in season? How'd your favorite team do this year? Catch me up when you can. Love ya!
feeling ok, tired. I still fatigue really easy. Yes to cricket season, my team isn't doing the best yet but its early in the season. The weather has been quite hot so far.
DeleteI have just become a new subscriber to this website - recommended by my sister in Christ Tamara Leigh. I'm a die-hard historical romance kinda gal but I'm going to venture into new waters and add the authors of this site to my "TBR" list. I figure anyone who keeps company with Tamara have to be a group of great writers!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to say Cheryl, opening up the treasure chest of our wedding memoirs has been a FUN read. So I'll divvy up my wedding treasures to share - - OK - first my mother promised my great aunt & uncle that I would wear their "heirloom" necklace on my wedding day and she didn't tell me until they showed up in the brides dressing room presenting me with this incredible "something borrowed" item. It was this humongous gold chain with a huge odd shaped "thing" hanging on it with several chunks of diamonds embedded on it. It weighed a TON and came with a security guard. It was the perfect embellishment for my petite Victorian dress - if you can imagine France and the Klondike bear paired up - lol. Then my florist solved the whole France/ Klondike problem by "surprising" me with her take on a bridal bouquet - it was wider than me, taller than me, and if I thought the Alaskan gold rush would hinder me getting to the altar, then add the weight of this floral fantasy to my wedding glory. It was so large that it had DOUBLE handles to TRY to carry it!! Now two of my sisters have decided to take things "in hand" - namely my bouquet and while one stood trying to hold it, the other was throwing flowers left and right, trying to "down size" it. My mother was standing off to the side laughing the whole time. The photographer came in about this time and there are several delightful shots of my sisters tossing flowers from the second floor window and my mother dissolved in hysteria. The brides dressing room was on the second floor of a beautiful old church - and because it's old - the staircase wound it's way down to the - outside of the church - at the rear - and it's now raining. No one thought it would rain, so there are no umbrellas and there's nothing to do but - RUN!! This wouldn't have been too hard except I'm loaded down with the Alaskan gold rush around my neck and most of the botanical garden blocking my line of sight. I finally get to the front of the church where my dad is waiting to walk me down the aisle. He was a master drill Sargent in the army - so now I'm being drilled in which foot to start on and the pace to which we will "march" down the aisle. I'm still surprised to this day that he didn't change my entry music to the National Anthem. My brother-in-law thought we would enjoy some Asian food for dinner on our honeymoon and packed our suitcases with rice. My husband who is a very "stoic" type of man was not amused. He takes his clothes very serious - and without rice. It was a memorable day - and after over 30 years of marriage - I still remember it as a good day!!!
Oh my...I am laughing hysterically! Took me forever to read this because my eyes were watering from tears of laughter. The image of that huge gold chain with the clunky "thing"...I am still cracking up. You are a good writer my dear! You should take up story writing. Your descriptions are hilarious and sublime! How funny. I laughed all the way through this...every line. WRITE! :-) Thanks for sharing your story with us. I got my exercise cackling on this one. Please come back often. Thanks for giving the rest of our books a shot. We appreciate it!
DeleteAdore you, Patty--and your wedding day story! I'm with Cheryl. You had me rolling! Blessings, dear friend!
DeleteJust before the ceremony I burned a hole in my veil.. During the ceremony I got a bad case of the giggles. The preacher mispronounced my name. He turned Wyckstandt into Standwick. He dropped the rings, He had my husband put his ring on my finger and we had to do a quick switch when he was going to have me put my ring on my hubby's finger.
ReplyDeleteOh my word. Sounds like Mr. Magoo performed your ceremony! LOLOL. Oh, the veil...I would have cried on that part. I had a friend whose veil didn't come in until her wedding day...and it ended up being the wrong color! Her dress was off white and the veil was also supposed to be off white but was pristine, snow white. So someone in her church or family suggested the idea of staining it with tea to turn it off white...and it worked! Thanks for coming by today, Jan!
ReplyDeleteProbably my most embarrassing moment during my wedding was needing my matron of honor's help in going to the bathroom in my wedding dress before the ceremony! She had to hold it up for me while I sat on the toilet. I kept apologizing and she kept apologizing and it was just really embarrassing but really funny afterward. :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I had to have help too! And the stalls were sooooo small we couldn't close the door. LOLOL! That is so funny about you guys apologizing because I can so picture you doing that! LOLOL! Hugs friend and thanks for sharing. I'll bet Captain Caffeine cracked up when you told him.
ReplyDelete