Dirty Dancing Lift: Near Disaster Story
A Bride’s Tale: From Phone Fiasco to Dirty Dancing Lift
Table of Contents
By Andrea Mara
weddings are often a whirlwind of meticulous planning, but sometimes, the most memorable moments arise from the unexpected. For author Andrea Mara, her own wedding day was no exception, marked by a near-disastrous communication breakdown and a spontaneous, iconic movie moment.
the Late Bride’s Predicament
The morning of her wedding, Mara found herself in a rather unusual predicament. ”I was fit to kill him,” she recalls, referring to her groom, Damien. The issue? A simple text message sent at 1 pm, inquiring about the “reasonable number of people in the church,” went unanswered. This left Mara in a state of anxious uncertainty, unsure whether to proceed to the church.
“He had turned off his phone,” Mara explained, revealing the reason for the radio silence. After a tense 20 minutes, they eventually made their way to the church, resulting in Mara being a “late bride for, really, a very silly reason.”
A Day of Emotion and Festivity
Despite the minor hiccup, the rest of the day unfolded beautifully. Mara’s father delivered a “gorgeous, gorgeous speech,” which held particular poignancy.”My mom had died eight years before, and I’m the eldest, so this was the first wedding of our family,” Mara shared. Her father’s heartfelt tribute to her late mother served as a touching way to include her in the meaningful family milestone.
The evening’s festivities were equally memorable.The band was “absolutely brilliant,” keeping the dance floor packed. A highlight for Mara and her new husband was when the band played ”(I’ve Had) the Time of My Life” from the classic film Dirty Dancing.
“The bit where Patrick Swayze lifts Jennifer Grey - we did the lift!” Mara exclaimed. ”We didn’t plan it or anything. I think I got carried away on the emotion of the day and I had had a glass of wine. I just ran up to Damien and he picked me up,and he didn’t drop me. it could have gone really wrong, but it didn’t.”
An Unforgettable Evening
as the official festivities wound down, the celebration continued in the residents’ bar. Friends of Damien, many of whom were musicians, brought their guitars, leading to an impromptu sing-song that lasted until the early hours of the morning.
Mara reflected on the day with immense satisfaction. “The day ended up being everything we’d hoped for: Good food,good wine,and good music,and getting people out on the dance floor.” She added, “So frequently enough you plan and plan things and they don’t work out the way you thought they would, but this was exactly what we wanted and we were so lucky.”
Andrea Mara’s latest novel, ‘It Should Have Been You’, is available now in bookstores nationwide.