Danielle Smith wasn’t sure she’d ever get married again. “But if I do, I want it to be a ‘Hallmark Movie’ wedding,” she said.
It was a special tradition that she, her mother, and her older sister shared, watching Hallmark Christmas movies together. Their mom sadly passed away in February of this year, and it would be the first holiday season where they wouldn’t get to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie as they had done for so long.
After losing both her parents in less than 18 months, Danielle might’ve thought Hallmark moments were just that: something that existed only in the movies.
But then, in August, Keith came back into her life, the return of an old flame she’d met 18 years ago. It didn’t take long for them to realize this was more than another chance at romance, and on Halloween, they were engaged.
When it came time to decide where to have the wedding, Keith and Danielle came from their home in Sand Springs to Sapulpa to see this Route 66 Christmas Chute they’d heard so much about. “It was magical,” she said. “I’d always said I wanted a ‘Hallmark Movie Wedding’ or I wasn’t going to get married at all. But this was perfect,” she said.
As magical as the Christmas Chute is, seeing a bride and her bridesmaids making their way down the middle of the Chute to meet the rest of their wedding party is something else altogether. As her brother-in-law walked her down the “aisle” on Route 66, casual Chute walkers stopped and turned, beaming.
Back under the “Let It Snow” theme just a few feet away, one of Keith’s brothers asked him, “Are you ready for this?” Keith smiled.
“I am now,” he said.
The rest of the wedding was as typical as a wedding could be, but there was no mistaking the bright smiles of the bride and groom as they recited their vows and exchanged rings under the glimmering shine of the “snowflakes” as the sun began its descent.
Danielle’s sister Debbie, who is 16 years her senior, talked about the pain of losing both parents so close together, and how her mom “always wanted Danielle to get married again.”
“At the time, she didn’t even know Kieth, but she always wanted Danielle to have that Hallmark Movie-style wedding,” she said. It was sad she’d just missed out on it by a few months. Or did she?
Debbie told us about the special necklace they’d each gotten after their mom passed away. She rubbed her finger over the pendant, imprinted with her mother’s fingerprint. “I brought mom with me,” she said. Looks like both mom and daughter got what they wanted.
If that’s not a Hallmark Movie Moment, what is?
