And We Raise Our Glass

In the last ten years or so, I have been to countless weddings, been part of two wedding parties, and will be part of two more this year. The weddings are as unique as the couples that have them. I love weddings. It's a celebration of love that is purposefully designed to reflect the two people that it's bringing together. And seeing two people at their happiest makes me happy. But this post is about the wedding experiences from the guest's point-of-view (well, in this case, my point of view) and the little tidbits and memories that have been my favorite through my wedding-attending days. Some are cherishable, some are sad, some are bizarre, and others are clever. Here's a list of some of the memorable wedding tidbits:



1. The Memorable Pastor -- For most wedding ceremonies, the pastor (or priest or other dude) will recite verses and conduct a sermon. However, at one wedding I went to, the pastor personalized and focused his entire sermon on the guy and girl getting married. He used stories that they had told him, talked about their hobbies and passions and future plans. He used quotes from them about what they loved about each other and intertwined those quotes into the sermon. It was so personal, so beautiful, and so sincere that even after the sermon was done, I wanted to hear more.



2. The Memory Candle -- At one wedding, the couple had an "In Memory" candle at the back of the church by the guest book. The candle was engraved with all the names of loved one who had passed away. It was something so small but to me was such a statement -- "we know you can't be here but you are not forgotton."



3. The Backyard -- This wedding will stand out as one of the more non-traditional weddings. It was a country backyard wedding complete with: a random dog wondering the aisles, an uncle who showed up with no shirt, another couple sucking each other's faces while waiting for it to start, and an interruption of the wedding vows by a group of 50 or so bikers driving by whose motorcycles were so loud, we couldn't hear, well, anything.

4. The Dream Wedding -- The bride of this wedding was her own master wedding planner. She had every minute planned, every detail down, and no flower petal out of place. I had never seen a wedding so meticulously planned as this one. After over a year of her life invested into this one day, it was so fun to see her revel in it. Oh, and if you are wondering if this dream wedding came with a horse-drawn carriage?...yes, yes it did.

5. The Fire Truck -- This couple met while working for the Fire Deptment so it was only fitting to them that they would leave the church and climb up on a fire truck to take them to their reception. The wedding cake had a fire truck at the top with ladders connecting each teir and the bride herself had a white dress lined with navy blue -- to commerate the colors of the fire dept. Many might say "tacky" but these two people were paying homage to the passion that brought them together and they continue to share.

6. CD Wedding Favors -- At one wedding, the favors we received were copies of a CD where the bride and groom burnt some of their favorite songs played at the wedding. So very clever!

7. "I Loved Her First" song -- This beautiful father/daughter dance song can still make me cry but hearing it while watching a father and daughter dance to it? Priceless.

8. The Unwedding -- As I was on my way to a small wedding of a friend who was hosting it in her own backyard, I got a call saying that just an hour before the wedding, the groom-to-be called it off. Instead of wanting people to leave, the former bride asked that we still come and just be with her. She was calm and non-emotional -- as I think she was still in shock -- and we came and talked with her at what would have been the reception tables and ate the food that had been catered in and paid for. The part of that afternoon that stood out to me was when she refused to open the fridge where her wedding cake lay untouched. It was a sad moment.

9. The Mansion -- This wedding was held in a gorgeous old mansion. Did I mention it was suposedly haunted? That fact alone would put it on this list! This place beat any reception hall in beauty and elegance. I would go back to this place anyday!

10. The Champagne -- I had to finish out this list by mentioning my first wedding ever. I was 8 and it was the first event where I really did "dance like nobody's watching." My brother did cartwheels across the dance floor and since we couldn't have this odd drink called "champagne" that the adults got to have, we made our own -- we mixed Coke and Sprite and called it the same thing. We even made a toast with it. Unforgettable.