Tuesday, October 19, 2010

WEDDINGS, LOTS OF WEDDINGS

Monday was really busy before I got there.  And then it ground to a halt.  After an hour I had a wedding and then I sat for nearly another hour.  Around 3:00 the lobby filled up.  We had license buyers and we had couples wanting to get married right then.  A few are worth writing about.

Even though the Clerk From Hell (CFH) did not work Monday, she managed to screw up things.  The license was sold in July and would expire in a week.  Clerk M typed in the information for the witness and noticed CFH had not signed the license. (from the receipt you can tell who did the transaction).  M signed it and brought me the license.  I checked for errors and down at the bottom was a mess.  If a bride or groom are changing their name or hyphenating it, the info must be filled out: first, middle, and last name. All CFH had put in were the first names.  Nothing else.

So back out to M, she calls them over and asks if they are changing their names.  The bride can't decide, they dither and finally she wants to take his last name and keep her middle name.  We reprint, give it to them to re sign.  The bride changes her mind, she wants her maiden name as her middle name. We reprint again, and sign again.  Finally I can take them upstairs and do the ceremony.

Another couple I can't tell you anything about them.  But the guests, oh yeah.  I remember them.  We had the running screaming children.  We had the grandmother in a scooter which she let the children drive.  We had the constantly talking guests while I tried to do the ceremony.  The children were running  around and sliding the background screens during the ceremony. I got through the ceremony, took the couple into the Marriage Clerk's office to get the certified copy.  I had the guests exit the room and wait in the small lobby. 

And then I went down to get the next couple.  I took them upstairs and the whole damn previous group was back in the wedding room like they owned it.  I didn't think I would ever get them out of the room.  RUDE  RUDE RUDE!

I had one confidential ceremony.  (Remember that license doesn't require a witness and it takes a court order to get information about the license.) I called the couple's names and said let's go upstairs.  They called out to a friend  L, they brought with them, and she ignored them.  They called again. No response.  The bride went over to L and she still didn't join us.   I said if you all aren't ready, I will come back.  The groom was furious.  He told his bride to forget about L.  It was their wedding, it wasn't about L. They were going now.  They didn't need her to get married.  As the elevator doors were shutting, L ran in the elevator.  She was really sulky.  I was afraid we were going to have a scene.  But it went fairly well.  The groom ignored her.  I told L she could take pictures from the sides and in back of me.  Guess where she kept standing.  Right in front of me.  I kept telling her to move, and took her arm and moved her once.  She was a piece of work.  I totally agreed with the groom.

The room was alive with love. The groom was so intense.  He locked his eyes on his bride. I don't think he saw anything except her. The vows really touched them both. He and his bride had tears in their eyes at the end of the ceremony.  It was a good ending to my day.

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