Part Two

Okay, Okay, here it is. Sorry it took so long but I used up my internet access at home so I'm back to going to the library, which slows things down. Not to mention that I don't like assigned writing (even if I've assigned it to myself) which makes me even slower. But I'm writing now, so here it is.

So, I walked into the lobby of the church camera in hand. I was early enough that the ushers were ushering yet so I just stood there for a few minutes wondering what to do. Thankfully my Aunt and Uncle walked in right then so I followed them into the church and we sat down with another set of my relatives. I was right on the end of the pew and had an excellent view of the front of the church were everything would be taking place. As we were waiting and talking and looking, I noticed one of the ushers talking to my cousin Angela, one of the groom's sisters. A moment later the usher came over and asked us to move across the aisle on the groom's side of the church. ( Anyone know why they do that, anyway?). A bit chagrined we all stood up and changed sides. Now instead of being on the outside and having a clear view I was on the inside and had many heads blocking the procedings.

A quick side note here. Believe it or not I'm pretty sure that this was only the fourth wedding that I had ever been too. And the last one I attended was about five years ago, Shawn and Gretchen's for those who know them.

Also in case you hadn't noticed, I'm a guy and this is my blog so I'm going to skip most of the details, like colours, floral arrangements, what music they played and so forth. Actually I didn't notice or remember so I couldn't tell you even if I wanted. :-)

Okay, back to the story. People were seated. The groom and his men came in, then the bridesmaids, flower girl and ring bearer. The ring bearer was actually a girl, one of the relatives of the bride, something I found kind of interesting. The bride, Amanda Ashley, comes from a catholic family so much of the wedding was catholic based. The two mothers came down the aisle bearing candles and put them on either side of of a larger candle, to symbolize unity between the two families. Then there was a reading by the sisters of the bride and groom. This started the catholic phrase and response. What do I mean? Every now and then, either the priest or someone else would say a phrase, and the bride's side of the church would roar right back with the correct catholic response, while the groom's side of the church just sat there in mumbled confusion. Not being well trained in the catechism we didn't know the key phrases, or the response. The third or fourth time a phrase was said we would catch on and respond just as well, but as soon as we got one phrase they would change to a completely different phrase and response. This happened several different times and was both hilarious and maddening.

The actual service was very short. The priest talked about Jesus' first miracle and made some connection to marriage but I don't remember what. Then the vows, the exchanging of rings and the lighting of the unity candle. Remember the two candles the moms brought down. After the vows and rings the bride and groom each took one of the candles and light the big one in the middle, I suppose to signify the joining of the two families. They were presented, and then walked out (do people in a resetional recede?) to a traditional Irish song played on a guitar. Very cool. They had a recieving line, where I met the bride for the first time, and then joined up with my cousin, the sister of the groom.

I was hoping to finish this tonight, but I have things to do, so looks like there will be a part three. Hopefully it won't take as long to come as this one did.