MN Wedding Journal: The Ceremony

The Bride and her Maid of Honor.

Down the aisle...Laura gives her mom a big smile. The bouquet in her hand is calla lillies with magnolia leaves bent over to show the bronze underside of the leaf.

The processional was Cindy Morgan's "Make Us One" (You might be able to click on that link and scroll down to hear a sound clip from the song on Amazon.)

(As Laura put it, "She went for maximum tear factor in music choice." Tear factor achieved!)

Didn't everyone wash up nicely? I liked that the couple faced the audience.

Laura liked that she could see all the grooms men's lips quivering.

Done deal!

They wrote their own vows and they were lovely.

They promised to encourage and appreciate and love each other more every day.

Me? I really appreciate the traditional nine part commitment:

Have

Hold

Better

Worse

Richer

Poorer

Sickness

Health

Death

Someone once told me what you are signing on for was a commitment, even more than love.

Love is a gift from God.

A Commitment you personally have to make happen.

Love is often seen as a feeling.

Commitment is an "even though" promise.

Someone else said you haven't read a book, don't know the whole story until the last page is read and the book is closed.

Only then will you be able to say what the story was about, what it meant, how it turned out.

The nine fold vow includes death...the final page of the marriage, when there will be one person knowing at last the entire story.

Only after the loss of a mate can anyone say: "Our marriage" and be speaking of every day of it.

Sobering thoughts.

We have had, and held, been better and been worse, been richer and been poorer, and have been healthy and been sick during the these first thirty years.

At each turn it's been good to be able to say;

"Yeah, that was what I sign up for that day in the pretty white gown. This (rich, sick, better...) means I am having a marriage!"

Even though the couple didn't say the nine things, I have a feeling they understand what they are undertaking.

They're going to do just fine.