Josh and Amy, whom I have mentioned several times in my blog now were finally getting married! Yay! All the close friends of the happy soon-to-be-couple were involved with the wedding in some way (which meant Jon and Katie and, by default, myself). So a lot of the day was spent preparing the sanctuary here at the church for the wedding. That evening Jon and I went to his parent's house to spend the night because the girls would be using his house as a "base of bridal operations."
Jon's parents are awfully nice people. It was a relaxing night.
Saturday (3/12) was the big day. For the most part I was on my own in the morning. Katie was in Amy's wedding party and Jon was assigned to some chauffeuring duties. I did a bit of work at the church and got changed into a spiffy suit (which I borrowed from one of the pastors here who used to work in a men's store). It is actually a really good suit (I should have taken a picture) and definitely one of the most expensive I have ever worn.
Either way, I didn't have a part in the service which was good, as I could sit and enjoy it. Here are my observations:
1.) The Bride, Amy, was just gorgeous. She had one of the most simple and elegant dresses I have ever seen. Her Bridesmaids were also quite lovely--go Jodie and Katie!
2.) This is somewhat unique: During the ceremony they have a covenant made not only between the couple, but between the couple and the parents and the couple and the congregations. I think it was a lovely touch. Weddings, after all, are a public covenant and ought be made in
community.3.) Another interesting touch is a public signing of the marriage certificate. Instead of after the ceremony like in many weddings in America, the certificate is signed by all parties during the wedding. It is actually quite a big pause in the service. They had some wonderful background music to accompany this process.
4.) Other than that, weddings are very similar to a low church protestant setting in America. I didn't feel too much out of place at all.
The major differences came with the reception actually (which I was very fortun
ate to be invited to). A lot of weddings I have been to in America have more open receptions, if you are at the wedding you are welcome to the reception (perhaps that is just the types of weddings I have attended). This reception was very specific and it was a big deal to get an invitation to it (the only reason why I was invited was because somebody had to drop at the last minute). The reception was a very nice meal (very nice actually) with an open bar (dangerous for some people) and never-ending supplies of wine and champagne. It seems so expensive in my mind for such an occasion. Jon was telling me that this level of food and drink is the norm and so an invitation to a reception is quite the honor. The reception hall was beautiful and the night was quite lovely. Another difference seems to be in time spent at the reception. The wedding reception was here was near on 7 hours long. I don't remember them being that long in the States. Again, it might just be the type of weddings I have attended.
There was, of course, all the traditional speeches, toasts, bouquet throwing, and cake cutting. And, to cap it all off, dancing. But, alas, nobody here knew how to swing dance so I was stuck not doing much dancing. (I try to limit such dancing to swing dancing whenever possible).
But I had a blast at both the wedding and the reception. I left early with one of the pastors at the church and called it a night. I had church in the morning, after all :-).
In Christ,
Chris
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