Am I a Girl if I REALLY Like a Good Wedding?

Maybe it’s the pastor in me, maybe I’m just a sappy old man. Either way, I’m a huge fan of weddings. Last night Jenna and I attended a wedding in which I had no responsibilities. I found just watching and taking it all in refreshing. Joe and Emily’s wedding was absolutely beautiful and sacred.

The doors opened and everyone entered at the same moment to a soundtrack of indie and classic love songs. The ball room at the Amway Grand in downtown was decked out in candles and Christmas fineries. Drinks were served on trays from the wait-staff walking around the room. We talked and everyone was told to stay in the balcony that circled the room. As the pianist began playing one of the most beautiful renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” we all watched from above as Emily walked down an isle on the lower floor and walked up a grand staircase where Joe waited for her to arrive.

Shauna Niequist spoke words of hope and encouragement to the couple. She presented one of the most intimate of wedding homilies speaking to them as if she was a sister imparting her last minute advice. Literally, this was one of the best weddings I’ve ever seen; the ceremony was truly a worship service.

I had heard of couples serving each other communion to each other in place of a unity candle; I’d never witnessed it. I think I might suggest this as a real option for any couple that I marry. This really set the tone for their marriage – as Shauna put it “Their first act of service to each other after taking their vows.” The moment was sacred, soundtracked by a simple “O Come, All Ye Faithful” which we were invited to sing after they had finished communion.

After the couple was presented, the tone for the rest of the evening was set with a processional of The Beatles’ “All You Need is Love.” The night was filled with toasts, good food, and great music and dancing. We laughed and sang along to songs of nostalgia. We told stories and reminisced about our own weddings. We even created some new inside jokes, which just rarely happens these days. The night celebrated the couple’s love for each other and more importantly their love for God.

And that is what I love about a good wedding. It is testimony. It is a witness to the working of God in the lives of two individuals joined together by vows and real, gut-level love. They are sacred, truly set apart moments of ephemera that can’t be recovered except in our photos and best of memories. They are at their best a party, one that celebrates a love that has grown and looks forward to the love that will develop in the future.

So call me a girl if you will, but I love a good wedding, especially when I get to share it with my own bride – who by the way was lookin’ SMOKIN’ HOT last night!