A Mix of Weddings

I am still catching up on all the weddings for the last couple of weeks.  With all going on lately, I haven't been as faithful on the weddings.

Someone asked me the other night, do you know when a marriage isn’t going to last.  Well, not for sure, but there are red flags: the bride who asked the groom what his last name was; between them the couple has 8 divorces; the groom is only 35 years old and this is his third marriage; the 18 year olds who pose, make gang signs, and talk throughout the ceremony;  the bride who sat in the floor for 15 minutes crying and asking should I do this.  Oh, and then we have the green card weddings.  If I can tell this isn’t for real, for sure the immigration officials will recognize the scam.

The groom was 77, the bride was 44.  Sometimes that feels creepy.  Not this time.  He was a very young looking healthy man.  The bride was not healthy looking.  Her hands and feet were twisted, perhaps from arthritis.  They adored each other.  Both of them were very emotional during the vows.

The couple was young, early 20’s.  She was in jeans and a Tee shirt, he was too.  After the ceremony she started crying.  The groom thought she was upset because they weren’t having a fancy wedding.  He started promising a huge fancy deal down the road.  By the hardest, she convinced him that she wasn’t unhappy, she was just very moved by the ceremony.

As you all know I hate hate doing ceremonies for arranged weddings.  This is not PC.  My apologies to those I offend.  But when I see the Indian/Pakistani couples in the lobby not even looking at each other, I want to cry.  So I see an Indian couple and family in the lobby. The day is going to end on a bad note.  The license was on my desk.  The couple marrying is in their late 40’s.  Turns out we have a love match.  All of the young people were her children.   The couple was so solemn during the ceremony.  Finally during the paperwork they started smiling and laughing.

As you have read, all kinds of people come into the Marriage Factory.  What ever our personal feelings our job is to make this ceremony a wonderful experience for them.   I think 99% of the time we do that.