Three very different couples, plus a bonus story

I only did weddings on Monday this week.  Wednesday I  didn't feel great so I stayed home to rest.  I felt so guilty for not going in.  The marriage clerk sent me a note and said it was just as well I stayed home.  They did not have a single ceremony Wednesday afternoon.

Monday's first wedding was very traditional.  All the male guests wore a rose boutonniere as did the groom.  All the female guests wore rose corsages.  The men wore suits, the women wore dressy dresses.  Our groom wore a dark suit and tie.  The bride wore a knee length white satin sheath.  The bodice was covered in lace.  She carried a multicolored bouquet.

The couple was so at ease.  They laughed, they hugged, they enjoyed their wedding.  There was love in the room

The second couple were Indian.  He was in a suit.  She was in a sari.  It was a brilliant blue with a tapestry edge.  There were gold sunbursts with gold jewels all over the sari.  They had done a cultural wedding and just wanted the legalities done.  They became emotional during the ceremony, it wasn't just a legal thing anymore.   After the ceremony they both hugged me and thanked me over and over.  And the witness hugged me and thanked me too.  That is very unusual.  Couples from India are very reserved.  They rarely hug each other in public let alone the officiant.  Very special feeling for me.

The last couple was stereotypical Hispanic. He had on the backwards baseball hat pulled down to his ears and sunglasses. He looked like a thug.  She was a beautiful young woman.  Her mother is their witness.  We get in the Wedding Room.  I told them to put their coats (yes rest of the world, it was cool that day and coats were needed) and things down.  We get their son settled.  And then I look for the groom.  No thug in sight.  There is a gorgeous young man standing there: no hat, no sunglasses.  I look around for the groom and then realize he is the groom.

I did the wedding ceremony.  Afterwards I told the groom he was never ever to wear that baseball hat again.  I said that I might sound like a dirty old woman, but he was gorgeous. But with that hat on, who would know.  His mother-in-law cheered me.  She said she had told him the same thing.

He did not put the hat back on.  I left them with the marriage clerk and as I left I said, "Burn the hat."

BONUS STORY:  This comes courtesy of the marriage clerk.  She received a  phone call from a Catholic Church official.  They had done an audit of one of their churches and found two completed marriage licenses.  From 2001!  Should they send them in to the county?  No, they are no longer valid.  The couples are married, but the marriages were not recorded. Special papers have to be signed in order for these marriages to be recorded with the state.  And we can't do anything until the couples come into our office.  So the church needs to track down the couples and get them to come to our office to do the paper work.

I hope they can find them.  After 10 years they could be long gone from California.  If I hear the ending on this one, I'll let you know.