"So... I'd say that was interesting."
So says my extremely diplomatic and non-judgmental wife after we retire to our motel room after the wedding of John and Ashley that evening.
I confirmed, "I've never seen anything quite like it I'll have to admit. I felt the effort to keep it unpretentious and light kind of left it unsupported in the end." I was thinking along with Peggy Lee, Is that all there is? This wedding was definitely a celebration of the casual and spontaneous - though a bit of forethought and even a smidge of it rehearsal would have done wonders. At least in my opinion. But I'm no wedding planner.
We arrived mid-afternoon to the Unitarian Church to help set up, as promised. I felt called to arrange tables and chairs in the reception hall.
First Q: (to the groom) How many should we set up for?
First A: We planned all of this out in a few days ago, I think we can get everyone to fit if we arrange the tables in an interlocking-Z pattern. We have a diagram as to how it shold be set up.
Second Q: Great. Where's the diagram?
Second A: Oh. I think it is at home by the computer.
If this were fiction, this scene would be called "fore shadowing".
We managed to count chairs and haul in every last table on the premises to get very close to 150 places shoe-horned into the room.
Meanwhile, the bride's sister was supposed to be on hand to make the flower arrangements. Boy is she going to be in big trouble - she never showed up. So Sue and Carol rode to the rescue, cutting, taping, filling and arranging. The were working like fiends. Sue brought a pile of floral mess over to where I and Bruce (best man) were seated and said that we needed to save the wedding for the bride and help with the flowers. Bruce told me that these bridal flowers were work for the women folk and we were not going to be doing any such floral arrangements. So he went on detailing the lives of lost brothers and conspiracy theories that were of no consequence to him and his view on life.
With the tables set up with all the flowers and doves beautifully arranged by the women folk; it was getting time to fill the sanctuary. The groom's men all had Hawaiian shirts and shuffled up to the chancel as a blue grass band played. I circled back to get the printed order of service. It was of some help in following the events to come.
There was no one officiating for the wedding, so it was kind of an eclectic gathering of consciousness more-or-less related to a matrimonial theme. One of the early items was expected to be a sing-along to James Taylor's How Sweet It is. However, the band did not know they were expected to play the tune, so they declined to accompany what was a leaderless attempt to
muddle through the words printed in the order of service. Most people gave up after a few lines and the whole effort imploded. Well, that was interesting, how about we go onto the next item. There was then a few quotes of Groucho Marx, "Marriage is wonderful institution, but who wants to spend the rest of their life in an institution?" [rim shot]
Then a reading of I Corinthians Chapter 13 (the love passage). Time for the 7th inning stretch, and we were all to sing the Beatles Her Majesty is a Pretty Nice Girl. No printed lyrics for this, because we all know this little ditty.
Time for vow - or promises or something. The Groom went first. Time for the bride, but she had not got around to writing/memorizing anything for her counter part. So she apologized, said I love you and promised to just wing it the best she could for the rest of their time together. I can't help but feel, a big oops moment.
Onto the big moment, where the best man re-enacted the famous wedding scene from the movie The princess Bride. The groom playing the part of Prince Humperdink, demanded that the best man skip to the end and say "man and wife". So brother Bruce did. At so it was.
That being said (or not really said), it was time for the heavily inked Tina Tarmac (minus her backup band, the Burn) to play Clare de lune as we headed for the dinner line.
Ashley is a large-eyed beauty, a talented writer and teacher and clearly well beloved of by her husband John. She and John appear to all the world to make a blessed pair. We enjoyed their hospitality to the utmost and were pleased to join in celebrating this wedding - all the more because it was "interesting". We wish them abundant happiness all the rest of their years. Even as we celebrate the spontaneity displayed, we have to wonder what is going on with kids these days - only these kids are our age. Marriage is what brings us together. And so we were glad to be a part of the scene.
So says my extremely diplomatic and non-judgmental wife after we retire to our motel room after the wedding of John and Ashley that evening.
I confirmed, "I've never seen anything quite like it I'll have to admit. I felt the effort to keep it unpretentious and light kind of left it unsupported in the end." I was thinking along with Peggy Lee, Is that all there is? This wedding was definitely a celebration of the casual and spontaneous - though a bit of forethought and even a smidge of it rehearsal would have done wonders. At least in my opinion. But I'm no wedding planner.
We arrived mid-afternoon to the Unitarian Church to help set up, as promised. I felt called to arrange tables and chairs in the reception hall.
First Q: (to the groom) How many should we set up for?
First A: We planned all of this out in a few days ago, I think we can get everyone to fit if we arrange the tables in an interlocking-Z pattern. We have a diagram as to how it shold be set up.
Second Q: Great. Where's the diagram?
Second A: Oh. I think it is at home by the computer.
If this were fiction, this scene would be called "fore shadowing".
We managed to count chairs and haul in every last table on the premises to get very close to 150 places shoe-horned into the room.
 |
| Ashley the Bride Directs the Post Nuptial Festivities |
Meanwhile, the bride's sister was supposed to be on hand to make the flower arrangements. Boy is she going to be in big trouble - she never showed up. So Sue and Carol rode to the rescue, cutting, taping, filling and arranging. The were working like fiends. Sue brought a pile of floral mess over to where I and Bruce (best man) were seated and said that we needed to save the wedding for the bride and help with the flowers. Bruce told me that these bridal flowers were work for the women folk and we were not going to be doing any such floral arrangements. So he went on detailing the lives of lost brothers and conspiracy theories that were of no consequence to him and his view on life.
With the tables set up with all the flowers and doves beautifully arranged by the women folk; it was getting time to fill the sanctuary. The groom's men all had Hawaiian shirts and shuffled up to the chancel as a blue grass band played. I circled back to get the printed order of service. It was of some help in following the events to come.
There was no one officiating for the wedding, so it was kind of an eclectic gathering of consciousness more-or-less related to a matrimonial theme. One of the early items was expected to be a sing-along to James Taylor's How Sweet It is. However, the band did not know they were expected to play the tune, so they declined to accompany what was a leaderless attempt to
 |
| Blue Grass Band Plays before the Wedding |
muddle through the words printed in the order of service. Most people gave up after a few lines and the whole effort imploded. Well, that was interesting, how about we go onto the next item. There was then a few quotes of Groucho Marx, "Marriage is wonderful institution, but who wants to spend the rest of their life in an institution?" [rim shot]
Then a reading of I Corinthians Chapter 13 (the love passage). Time for the 7th inning stretch, and we were all to sing the Beatles Her Majesty is a Pretty Nice Girl. No printed lyrics for this, because we all know this little ditty.
Time for vow - or promises or something. The Groom went first. Time for the bride, but she had not got around to writing/memorizing anything for her counter part. So she apologized, said I love you and promised to just wing it the best she could for the rest of their time together. I can't help but feel, a big oops moment.
Onto the big moment, where the best man re-enacted the famous wedding scene from the movie The princess Bride. The groom playing the part of Prince Humperdink, demanded that the best man skip to the end and say "man and wife". So brother Bruce did. At so it was.
That being said (or not really said), it was time for the heavily inked Tina Tarmac (minus her backup band, the Burn) to play Clare de lune as we headed for the dinner line.
Ashley is a large-eyed beauty, a talented writer and teacher and clearly well beloved of by her husband John. She and John appear to all the world to make a blessed pair. We enjoyed their hospitality to the utmost and were pleased to join in celebrating this wedding - all the more because it was "interesting". We wish them abundant happiness all the rest of their years. Even as we celebrate the spontaneity displayed, we have to wonder what is going on with kids these days - only these kids are our age. Marriage is what brings us together. And so we were glad to be a part of the scene.
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