Big life-changing moments like getting engaged or married often come with little hiccups, because the pressure is on. Of course, we’re only human, and things happen, but occasionally a clumsy moment can lead to a very unfortunate loss.
Trent and Alena Gale Smith thought they were cutting out most of the drama that accompanies weddings by eloping on a small sail boat off of Charleston, South Carolina. “Our wedding wasn’t about inviting or pleasing anybody… It was just about focusing on the person you love,” said the bride to Buzzfeed.
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The wedding took place on Aug. 9 with just five people present, the bride and groom, the groom’s best friend and officiant, their photographer, Sarah Wallace, and the boat’s owner and captain, Billy Haynie. They set sail, and the couple, casually but elegantly dressed, looked forward to the intimate moment where they would say “I Do” with the sea as their witness.
The ceremony got underway at sunset. Everything was going according to plan when the wind started to pick up a bit. Trent had the ring in a little jewelry pouch, but as he went to get it out, a gust of wind caught the pouch, and it flew into the water. Everyone was stunned. The bride screamed for someone to grab a net, but before anyone could, her groom-to-be was in the water.
The photographer Sarah Wallace told Buzzfeed, “we watched it hit the water. Trent tried to reach for it, but we were several feet from the water, so he just dove in. it was very fast and very shocking.” After that, I’d say Trent wins the groom of the week award.
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He swam around for several minutes, and actually managed to find the ring bag. However, when he made it back onto the boat, he realized the ring had fallen out. Now, many brides would’ve been furious and sobbing in this situation, but Alena was filled with nothing but love for her husband. He had tried so hard to save their ring, so she just grabbed him and kissed him.
“The sun was going down perfectly, we kissed and we moved on. The rest of the night was romantic, perfect and beautiful despite losing a ring,” said Alena.
Now, if the story had ended there, this couple would not be so uniquely perfect for each other. Two days later, the newlyweds were home from their romantic boat trip, and back to life as usual. Alena had taken her ring off to do the dishes, then went to finish painting with her son. However, in the middle of painting, she realized she had forgotten to put her ring back on. When she went back to where she thought she had put it down, it was missing.
Alena thinks it will likely turn up, even though it has not as of yet. However, even if it doesn’t, she and her new husband aren’t letting the material loss get them down. All in all, over two days, they lost $5,000 worth of jewelry and gained a truly wonderful wedding they will carry with them the rest of their lives. I’d say that’s a pretty good trade off.
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