Days of our Lives star Emily O’Brien is a married lady. The fan favorite wed, Ken Barnett, in a stunning wedding in Paso Robles, California on August 1. O’Brien recently spoke to Soap Hub about her wedding day, which was filled with unexpected hurdles, love, and an epic surprise from the couple to their guests.
Key Takeaways
- Emily O’Brien had a last-minute wedding venue change.
- The bride’s dress was deeply meaningful.
- O’Brien and Ken Barnett did not have a typical first dance.
The Wedding Was Not Without Issues
O’Brien (Gwen) admitted that a lot went wrong with her wedding, including a massive heat wave that caused a chef to pass out, which delayed dinner, and O’Brien’s friend to have a heat stroke after delivering a speech. There was also a blown speaker that cut into dance time at the reception.
Those weren’t even the biggest issues the couple faced. O’Brien and Barnett had to change venues at the last minute.
“We weren’t even supposed to get married at that venue. Our original venue canceled all their weddings because it’s weird. It’s very weird. And they told us at the last second, and we were so panicked, and we were really lucky to find the Calipaso at the last minute,” she expressed.
Despite the many things that went wrong, O’Brien admitted that the most important thing to her and Barnett was the guests. They wanted all their loved ones there, and that happened. Everyone they cared about was in attendance.
“We had people from all over the world, like we had people flying for us from Berlin, Spain, Japan, New Zealand, England, France, all over the state. That was the biggest gift that we could have asked for,” O’Brien stated.
The Moments That Made Emily O’Brien’s Wedding Extra Special
No doubt O’Brien and Barnett faced some challenges on their wedding day. However, they also had some moments that made it beyond special for the couple. One of those was O’Brien, wearing her now-husband’s grandmother’s wedding dress.
“I was wearing Ken’s grandmother’s dress from 1956, worn by three different women in the family. It was very special,” the soap star shared
The couple also had a special first dance, which they kept a secret until it happened. Barnett and O’Brien’s first dance was a tap dance. They went to classes for over a month to learn it.
“I have two left feet, but it turned out okay,” she joked. O’Brien added that the reason they went for the tap dance was because of the new venue. “There were these beautiful stairs with a, like a, a balcony. It was like a piazza. And we were showing old-fashioned movies in where everyone was eating dinner, and Ken was like, what if we did a tap?”
At first, the actress was not all in on doing a tap dance. However, after thinking about it, she decided, “Why not?” saying it was “unique and different.”
Not only did they opt for a tap dance, but they made a story out of it, almost putting on a bit of a show for their guests. It turned out better than O’Brien expected, and her guests were in awe of the couple.
Another special moment occurred during the ceremony, when several of their friends, including Peter Porte (Dimitri) and Paul Telfer’s (Xander) wife, Carmen Cusack, sang a version of Patrick Watson’s “To Build a Home.”
There were certainly some unexpected hiccups, but O’Brien had a wedding day to remember!
