People often wonder, how do you know for sure that you have made the right decision, that he is truly the one meant for you ? That is a difficult question to answer but I am one of the lucky ones to know for sure that my life partner is truly the ONE because our wedding day is filled with miracles and that’s how we are sure that we are meant for each other because God’s favor was upon us.

Both Mike and I fell in love with Bali and its natural beauty. We even had our pre wedding pictures taken in Bali. An intimate outdoor Bali wedding filled with our dearest friends and families truly was our dream wedding. However, a beautiful outdoor wedding doesn’t come without caveats. During our wedding planning, we even moved our wedding date because we were worried about the rain.

We moved it to end of May, hoping that by then there will be no more rain and bad weathers. Then on H-1 it was raining so bad in the morning and afternoon that we couldn’t do rehearsal at the wedding location. However, in the evening God made the sky so clear and beautiful just in time for our H-1 photo and video session. Our photos and video turned out to be so beautiful! That was miracle number 1.

On that day too, our Pastor from Jakarta suddenly called us and asked us to move the Holy Matrimony schedule earlier because she needed to be back to Jakarta to attend another wedding. We were surprised and confused on how to change the itinerary schedule on such a last minute basis but we believe that it is never wrong to do the right thing, so we managed to try to accommodate for the change in schedule.

Because H-1 weather was so bad, we checked the weather forecast and it was said that there was going to be a thunderstorm the whole day from morning to night during the wedding date. WO informed us that we will need to decide whether we want to use the ballroom as backup or stick to outdoor with risk of rain. If we don’t decide quickly, there will not be enough time to move the décor to the ballroom. And if it was going to rain from morning, the decor team also won’t be able to work and finish the decor.

And then later on at 11 pm, when my family was praying for tomorrow we realized that the villa was flooded ! There was a heavy thunderstorm that night and both of Mike and my villa was flooded because the rain was too big. My sister’s dress got wet due to the flooding. Then at 2 am, my family was evacuated to another villa. When most bride-to- be would have had their beauty sleep, I had to bring my bags and moved to a new room.

Still ,we didn’t lose hope. Some people suggested us to use rain stopper which is a common practice for most Bali wedding but Mike and I refused. I wouldn’t lie that I was tempted at some point because I was too scared that it would rain, but I stick to my firm faith because I believe my God is more powerful than anything on earth.

I woke up on my wedding date the next day at 6am, then sit alone at a gazebo outside the villa overlooking the ocean. There was a giant dark cloud above and as I pray at the gazebo, I was watching the dark cloud moved toward the ocean. With my own eyes, I watched my God at work. He moved the rain away. That morning while I was watching the cloud, it was still raining. But at around 7 am when it was time to start make up and everything, God had moved all the dark clouds away. The sky was truly clear and beautiful. And that was miracle number 2.

But the problem didn’t end there .. when my bridesmaid and make up artists wanted to enter the resort, there was a fire at Ayana main gate and they couldn’t enter the vicinity until the fire was cleared. The schedule got delayed, which is bad because we had wanted to move the wedding earlier so that our Pastor can reach Jakarta that night. But we are still thankful that everyone was safe and after all, which bride can tell people that there was both fire and flood during her wedding day ?

The entire day was clear and beautiful, perfect weather for taking photos and video. But it was rather hot and we were worried that it will be too hot for the guests during Holy Matrimony especially because we moved it earlier. Then at around 4pm, just before the Holy Matrimony, the sky turned cloudy. At first I was a bit scared because by then, there was no time to move the reception to the ballroom anymore. We couldn’t move the food buffet, let alone the decor.

However, it was perfect weather for Holy Matrimony! The cloud kept the heat and direct sun away yet it didn’t rained. There were cool breeze too and it was very comfortable for us and the wedding guests.

Throughout the wedding planning process, one of the most arguable part of our wedding was the timing of the Holy Matrimony. Most people say that having it at 4.30pm will be too hot yet we moved it to even earlier and we wanted a proper celebration of love because we believe Holy Matrimony is truly the essence of the wedding because it was the moment when we will blessed and united as one so we didn’t want to cut the session shorter. As selfish human, we neither want rain nor hot sun. But God knows and provided us with what is best for us, beyond our mind and expectation. And after that, until the reception party was done at 10pm miraculously there was not a single rain. That was miracle number 3.

After the party was over, I contacted my Pastor and was informed that my Pastor managed to get a last minute ticket back to Jakarta at the airport. She flew back that night from Bali and still managed to attend another wedding at Mulia Jakarta in good time. And that was miracle number 4.

I am so thankful that I have an almighty God who is also a Father that loves me. His name is Jesus Christ. Thinking back to that day, wedding day is just a few hours celebration. Yes, we want it to be perfect because it is a once in a lifetime chance and the pretty photos will look nice hanging in our new home. But having God’s presence on the day that we got united as one is more important and I can’t be more thankful to God for the miracles that He performed.

Karina Kasuardi