Weddings, some

Wednesday was a little slow at the marriage factory.  I only did 4 marriage ceremonies.  The morning volunteer had more than she usually does, 4 or 5.  Nearly all the couples were Asian.  Wednesday was December 8, 2010.  And in the Asian community 8 is good luck. 

I did two ceremonies that had couples from India.  They could not have been more opposite.  The first couple asked for a short ceremony.  They stood apart from each other. They did not look at each other.  When the ceremony was over, they just walked away.  No touching, hugging, kiss, nothing. She had the traditional hennaed hands and lots of gorgeous diamond bangle bracelets.  I felt as if I were doing a business deal.  And basically that is what it was, an arranged marriage.  I hate, hate, hate doing them.  They really bother my old fashioned romantic senses. I may have been married 43 years, but still think you should be weak in the knees when you see your partner/lover/spouse enter the room.  Don't stand there and hope this will all go away.

The other couple from India and their 2 witnesses were so American.  They were the same age as the couple above, close to 30.  This couple was in jeans, no rings, IPhone for a camera, they were laughing, hugging each other.  So happy to be there.  None of them had an accent.  In fact they teased me about my Southern accent.  They were very in love, very intense during the ceremony, just a little teary eyed.  And yes, big kiss after I pronounced them husband and wife.

And my favorite wedding:  The bride was so nervous. When I got upstairs I asked my standard questions:  do you have rings, do you have your own vows, will anyone stand up with you, etc? After that, I said, "Please come up front and face your guests." The bride looked at me in panic and said, "We're going to do it now?" 

I told her we would not begin until she felt ready.  If she wanted to sit down and pull it together, we could do that. She said she was ready and we began.  She was so nervous and expressed it in laughter and giggles.  Which is very normal.  After the the ceremony she thanked me for such a lovely moving ceremony.

All in all a very nice day of weddings.  What will Monday's weddings bring?