Sunday, June 26, 2011

A couple of weddings

Wednesday I only had two wedding ceremonies to perform.  Only one of them is interesting, weird, trouble.

The couple was older.  The bride was 41 and the groom was 52.  She was extremely nervous, deer in the headlights nervous.  Her English was limited, but she understood everything.  She kept going back and forth on whether to do traditional vows or to say her own.  He wanted traditional.  Finally she decided traditional vows.  I asked if they had rings and he said they were speed dating and hadn't had time to buy rings.  I did the ceremony, pictures are taken and I asked the witnesses to sign.  First her son signs.  The son's name is printed out (fake name to protect the guilty) Sun Lee Wong.  I point to where he is to sign and he writes David Wang.  I take it into the marriage desk clerk.  Will the state take his Americanized name.  Her answer a signature is a signature.  No problem. 

I go back in the wedding room to have the second witness sign.  Then back to have the license certified.  As the clerk is starting to copy it, the son says that isn't my name. Huh?  You put in the wrong name, I said no , you gave us the wrong name.  We put in what you write down and give us.  His name was not Wong, it is Wang.  O and A are no where close on the keyboard, so not likely to be a typo.  Plus there were other mistakes that they had put into the computer.  The clerk puts in what they print on paper and hand to her , the computer puts in what they enter, and we ask them to read the monitor before the license is printed.  The four of them never noticed any of the errors.  So reprint, re sign. 

While the corrections are being made, the groom says, "We met 13 days ago.  I am out here on a road trip on my Harley and met her.  I can't stand to leave her behind.  So we are marrying and she and James will fly out to Colorado next week.  I will go up to Seattle and finish my trip and be home to meet them."

I find this situation very romantic and scary as hell at the same time.  I do wish them all the luck in the world.  I really really wish I knew the ending to this story.

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