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I Remember One Wedding
by James Glaser May 10, 2012 
I heard today about a friend's son getting married, and how he was going to officiate at the service. He was looking at what other people have done for their vows that he might suggest for his son. That got me thinking about weddings I have attended. I lived in the woods of Northern Minnesota right near the Canadian border for over 35 years and there are not a lot of social events. So, you do end up going to almost every wedding and every funeral. People usually don't even send out invitations. They just put a photo of the bride and groom with the time and place in the paper, and people show up. I have gone to weddings in the woods, on the shore of lakes and rivers, on islands, and even a few in churches. One summer my wife and I attended 12 weddings, but only one of them sticks out in my mind. First off, I remember it because I was the hero of the day. The wedding was on the bank of the Big Fork River near Big Falls, and I lived on that river for many years. I knew if the sky was any sort of overcast there would be so many mosquitoes that you could not stand it without some good bug juice. I was prepared and brought extra. All these "city" ladies in their off the shoulder low cut dresses were every mosquito's dream lunch. They were going nuts and slapping and moving around trying to get away from the thousands of mosquitos. Charmaine and I were just standing around talking with all the other locals. We knew, and we came prepared, but I came prepared with enough extra to share. The mother of the bride still thanks me every time I see her. Everyone was really happy to get off that river bank and head to the municipal liquor store and bar for after wedding drinks and dance. I don't know if the weddings were the draw or the drinking and dancing after. Ah heck, I know,—it was the drinking and dancing, hands down. However, back to this wedding I still remember. The thing that set this wedding apart from the others was the minister. He was in his 40s and had just become a minister. No, I have no idea what denomination he was, but I remember he was a carpenter before he got his calling, and I was a carpenter, so I figured he was OK. He was. This minister's service wasn't all that different from other weddings, except he took a moment to explain to the bride and groom just how serious this moment in their life was. He talked about the fact that they were committing their lives to each other for life. I think everyone knows that when they go to a wedding there is some serious business going on, but this minister stopping the normal ceremony, and putting that little talk about how weddings are all fun and special, but that behind all the fun with pictures and the dressing up and the party afterwards, the real deal of the day was these vows these two people were making to each other. He explained that they were telling God that they were making these vows to each other. At least for me, that little talk stuck in my mind. After that, going to weddings became something way more special. I don't know if my friend will add something like that into his son's wedding service, but I think I might just mention it to him. I know when I got married to Wanda that little talk from that wedding on the bank of the Big Fork River was on my mind. Especially about how God was witnessing the vows we were making, and that raised the whole ceremony to a more important event in my mind. |
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