Pensacola, FL—Local barber Thomas Kensington was preparing for his wedding yesterday morning when he became trapped under his sleeping cat.

The episode began at approximately 10:15 a.m. when he sat down on the couch for a few minutes of respite after a long morning of preparations. His plan was to rest briefly before taking a shower and then heading to the ceremony, which would take place that afternoon.

Once he sat down, however, his cat, Cheshire, hopped onto his lap and began to doze.

“I thought he just wanted to be petted, so I planned to just let him sit there a few minutes while I gave him a good head scratch,” Kensington told the Post. “But he fell asleep almost immediately. At that point I knew I was in trouble.”

Kensington brainstormed how to get out of the situation without waking the cat, but he quickly came to the conclusion that he would simply have to wait until the cat woke on its own accord.

“After about 45 minutes one of my groomsmen texted me asking if I was on my way, but I told him I was running a bit late. Cheshire hadn’t moved yet and seemed at total peace.”

Thirty minutes before the wedding was scheduled to begin, his father showed up at the door and began to knock and ring the doorbell, but Kensington remained where he was.

“Chesh was still asleep, and I was actually worried my dad’s knocking might wake him up. If my dad had been able to see me, I’m sure he would have understood what was happening.”

The wedding’s start time came and went, but no one had gotten a hold of him. Kensington stated that he had turned his phone off so that he wouldn’t be tempted to reply, the movement of which might disturb Cheshire.

The wedding party and bride soon concluded he wasn’t coming, and Kensington’s father apologized to the guests and sent them home.

Just after 6 o’clock, Cheshire awoke, stretched, and sauntered over to his food bowl, where he waited for Kensington to feed him. After doing so, Kensington turned on his phone and started responding to the approximately 900 text messages and missed calls.

The bride, Donna Zito, expressed relief when she heard the reason.

“Oh, I was so glad. I was about ready to burn the whole place down when he didn’t show up, but now I know it was for a good reason. I think anyone would have done the same thing in his shoes.”

Kensington expressed no regret for his decision.

“I certainly know how I want people to treat me when I’m asleep, so I always try to do my best to treat Cheshire the same way.”

Kensington and Zito have rescheduled their ceremony for late next month.