Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Yay, I made it back to the Marriage Factory!

Sunday night I worried about being ready to volunteer Monday and Tuesday.  Both doing weddings and working with the first graders require physical activity.  This post is about Monday.  Later this week I will tell you about Tuesday.

First I had to be up, dressed, and fed by 7:45.  I still move really slowly, maybe afraid to tire myself out.  Plus I am not a morning person.  Why I pushed for morning volunteering I don't know.  Anyway, we were on the road at 7:45.  When I walked into the building, the clerks were lovely and made over me.  Several throughout the morning kept checking that I wasn't tired, that I felt OK, did I need to rest.  It was if I had several Moms checking on me.  It was very sweet.

To the weddings:  I only did 5 ceremonies.  There were several Spanish and Mandarin ceremonies, so I could rest while those were done.  My first ceremony was a big test.  Remember I had not done a ceremony since August 26.  Could I still be charming even when worried, could I be patient dealing with problems from the public, could I pronounce the foreign names.  The first couple were from Mongolian.  Their language does not use a lot of vowels in names.  But people I nailed it!  First try both the bride's and the  groom's names were correct. 

The bride had on a gorgeous white brocade dress.  It hit just as her knees, the neckline was square cut, and the sleeves were stunning.  They were little cap sleeves that were square also with a couple of horizontal pleats.  They stood up just a little bit as if there were shoulder pads, but it was all about the tailoring.  Project Runway worthy.

Another bride had on a white pencil skirt, black top and a black shrug.  The bride was at most a size 2, tiny tiny woman.  Yet for her wedding day she bought a skirt that was one size too small, that showed her panty line, and looked as if the skirt was sprayed on.

The next couple was from India.  They  were in their early thirties and were so in love.  They both had been divorced.  This is one couple I made up a story about them and gave it an ending.  They both had done the wedding demanded by their culture, an arranged marriage.  They were not happy and each divorced.  They came to America and found out you are allowed to choose your own spouse.  They fell in love, I married them, and they lived happily ever after.

One couple was a little different.  They looked like brother and sister.  They were both redheads, with that freckled ivory skin.  There was family from both sides children, brothers, and sisters, who had that pale skin and some were redheads.

My favorite couple was two women from Oregon.  All of their guests were from Oregon.  This was a destination wedding.  One of the women was a judge and did weddings in her court room.  When she saw our wedding room with the arch covered in silk flowers she squealed with delight.  She said they wanted to dress up their wedding area, but it is a courtroom and can't.  They were so happy to be allowed to marry.  They loved how our staff treated them, our room, our kindness.

I was tired when I got home.  But no heart problems,  And after a 2 hour nap I was ready for the  next round of Normal.

No comments: