“I wasn’t sure what I would say about ‘the happiest day of my life’, especially when it felt like one of our worst…”
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Days of Our Lives alum Rachel Melvin (ex-Chelsea) recently opened up about the journey to marrying the love of her life, Kevin Barrett, and while weddings are supposed to be happy occasions, this one had more than a few obstacles to overcome. The couple, who exchanged vows back in October 2022, set out nine months prior to plan their dream wedding but it hadn’t been easy…
She gave fans a play by play of everything they had done, while sacrificing “time with family and friends,” to make their special day perfect. From designing their invitations, to building the venue, to installing steps to the altar and even constructing a “dope ass bar out of wine barrels,” they did it all — and so much more for a day that was to be celebrated with 100 guests.
But they didn’t stop there… Melvin made her grandmother’s “gnocchi and bolognese recipes — from scratch,” only to have to move it all to different locations when their “electric company had a scheduled outage” in the area two days before the wedding. Next was the entertainment, which they complied as well — 17 hours’ worth! — and even collected over 20,000 photos for a slideshow.
“Everyone thought we were crazy and taking on too much,” she recalled, “but we knew we could do it and ultimately we did.”
More: Watch Days actress’ shenanigans with husband’s ex-wife
And after all of that, they wanted nothing more than to “finally relax” and take in the fruits of their labor… “But the next day, down to the minute we were supposed to walk down the aisle, a flash flood took the desert by literal storm.”
They endured 15 minutes of “a torrential, unprecedented and unseasonable downpour,” which forced the couple to pack 100 guests in their “modest home” and “to abandon everything” they’d worked so hard for. And what was worse, they didn’t get their “bridal party photos, no grand entrance, no dinner service under the stars, no speeches, no cake cutting, little dancing. Every single moment that makes a wedding a wedding was stolen from us by the weather.”
Not only was their wedding day rocked to the core, if you will, the week that followed had them cleaning up a massive mess in their home. Then a week later both came down with COVID days before their honeymoon, which they were forced to cancel. But wait, things got even worse…
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While they were sick their “dog OD’ed on weed he’d gotten into” while they were in the shower and the pup “almost died” then a day later, their water main broke and the week that followed, her husband broke his leg. And in retelling the story, she forgot to mention that a week before the wedding Kevin got stung by a scorpion for the first time. “You just can’t write this shit, folks!” Melvin stated.
As you can imagine, after a year of when it all began, they “felt completely defeated” but the actress can now look back “past the devastation enough to see what I missed in real time enough to celebrate it here.” And they couldn’t have came through it all without their friends and family that were there to support them and “willing to go above and beyond come hell or literal high water” to celebrate the couple “both rain and shine.”
Melvin went on to express, “I’m not sure there’s a way for someone to really know where they stand with others, unless and until they show up for you in an extraordinary way during an incredible time of need, unexpectedly.”
So, why did the former daytime actress post their story in such great length? “My decision to post our story was not just to recognize the people we love, but the people like us who hesitate(d) showing their warts for fear of embarrassment or falling short in comparison to their peers. But, I have some news for you! Doing so is how you find your people. Sure, there will be those who, through certain comments, try to add salt into a wound that in reality, is their own, but it will only affirm your prosperity.”
It’s clear the couple went through hell on their journey but in following along with their story, which you can read in its entity in the posts above, it just proves that love concurs all!
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Now that we’ve had a look into the ups and downs of Melvin’s real-life adventure, go behind the scenes with many of your favorite soap stars in the photo gallery below.
