Lois and I enjoyed our son and new daughter’s wedding last Saturday. Here are some of our favourite moments.
Walking up the aisle: We walked up the aisle with our son and left him at the front to wait for the bride. I felt an unusual sense of sobriety—31 years of memories as we walked. Lois noted the joy she felt as we anticipated the ceremony to come. It was a short walk, and will live forever in our memory.
Singing: We sang eight hymns, mostly a cappella. We were in a tent in a field, gathered as God’s people. We were church!
The vows: The couple had tailored their vows to the meshing of their personalities and the struggles that go with such a union. The promises are forever, and they are the same promises all couples make; but the unique personalities of the bride and groom were clearly expressed. Similarly, the unity symbol (mixing two chemicals together so that the product of the chemical reaction forms something new) reflected their union.
The children’s story: The purple dinosaur happy in his block of ice, and the lovely other dinosaur who melted his block of ice, and the path they walked—read by the bride’s father as children sat on the grass in front of him. One child asked how we could see the dinosaurs’ faces when the sun was behind them. Dad didn’t miss a beat: “It’s hard to draw depth perception.”
The party! Often called the wedding reception. The wedding
party came in, we ate and drank and toasted. Then came the first dance, a
wonderful moment as the couple danced in front of us. They’ll be dancing for
many years we trust, sometimes slow and peaceful, sometimes sad, sometimes
uproariously happy; dancing the dance of life.
More dancing: The groom and his mother; the bride and her
father. This dance is a tender time. It seems to go on and on, and is over far
too quickly. Lois and our son danced and talked, a dance she will carry in her
heart until she dies.
The whole day was a wonderful blend solemnity and joy,
informality and serious intention. I marvel at the amount of work the bride did
planning and putting everything together. And at the work her parents did once
they returned home from an overseas trip to help with final touches. Just
before the ceremony we had a serious power failure; her Dad stripped off his
jacket and turned a potential emergency into a blip before the service.
That kind of common sense readiness to deal with whatever
comes can carry the new couple through life, and Lois and I rejoice that they
are a new family ready to make a new home.
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