Every wedding has something go wrong, some minor disaster that can make one cringe at the time but laugh years later when recollecting the event. Perhaps it's the ring bearer who runs off with the rings; perhaps it's a member of the wedding party who trips and falls on the stage; perhaps it's a unity candle that refuses to light. This last one became our memorable moment.

After performing our vows, exchanging the rings and sharing our first kiss as husband and wife, the minister ushered us over to the signing table to light the unity candle. We each picked up our individual candle (lit at the beginning of the service by our respective mothers) and proceeded to light the unity candle together. The wick lit but then quickly extinguished itself. We tried again and again but to no avail.

Turns out that when the unit candle was set up, it was probably test burned to make sure that it worked. The wick had burned down to the base. So, each time we attempted to light it, the surrounding wax would melt and flood the wick, quenching the flame.

Timo began to dig a moat around the wick with his fingers as Leah moved closer to huddle beside him and hide our dilemma from the audience. Several repeated attempts failed to accomplish the goal. Timo then reached into his tuxedo pant pocket for the only item he was carrying that day: a swiss army knife given to him by Leah the night before as a wedding gift. Using it, he dug a deeper trench and then they tried again one more time. A tiny flame rose above the wick and wax. Success!

This whole experience was wonderfully caught on film by our videographer. At the end, he commented into the recording "it just goes to show, marriage takes work". Even the minister joked afterward about the resourcefulness of a swiss army knife at a wedding.