Every couple is different, so every wedding is different.  But, in my experience, some ceremonies are ‘more different than others’, if you know what I mean.

I was meeting with Anthony and Lezlie about their upcoming ceremony.  “We want to get married in the lake near our house,” they told me.  I tried to clarify: “Did you mean, you want to get married on the lake shore, or on a boat out on the water?”

“Neither one,” Anthony told me, “we want to be standing in the water, a few feet in, so the water comes up to our ankles.”

Hmm, I did a quick calculation: a late-December wedding, just outside of Temecula.  Exactly how cold was that water going to be?  “No problem,” he said, “it’ll be 58 degrees, no colder.”  Didn’t sound too bad, right?

Wrong.

Fortunately, I focus so much on my couples during a ceremony, I rarely notice my own situation.  Lezlie and Anthony had a great time, though, so All’s Well That Ends Well, no problem.

It was only after the ceremony was over and I was walking over to my wife (who, bless her heart, was carrying a towel for my feet), that I realized how freezing that water had been!

Maybe Anthony meant to say, “58 degrees below“?

Every wedding is unique, of course, but you ‘geeks’ out there will appreciate how Branden and Amanda made their wedding special:

Since they got married on March 14 (National Pi Day), take a guess at what they offered their guests instead of wedding cake?

You think being a wedding minister is stress-free? Consider:

At his wedding rehearsal, Joel and I were standing at the top of the aisle, waiting for the wedding party to start practicing their processional.

Joel turned to me and said, “I remember the first time I was standing in this very spot.  I was ten years old, and I was the Ring Bearer at my aunt’s wedding.”

I smiled and replied, “What a great moment to remember!”

He said, “Not really; it turned out kinda bad.  Just as the ceremony started, I threw up really huge…”  

[clearboth]Would History repeat itself? Take a guess at the only thing I could think about the next day, as his ceremony started up…!

PS: As is the case with all my ceremonies, all went smoothly, and Joel kept his composure (and everything else) under control all day!

Was re-organizing files on my computer recently, and came across this great note from one of my brides:

‘Thank you so much for officiating our wedding. We have received many comments on how unique it was and how well it suited our personalities to a “T”. They also loved that you and Eric looked like you could have been brothers or cousins.

“Everyone really enjoyed the ceremony, and the fact that it was not stiff or stuffy. Especially Eric’s cousin, who said that this was the only wedding he attended where he didn’t fall asleep.”

Hey, I do what I can. [wink!]

Every wedding has a story, but here’s one of my favorites.

Couples often ask me about my most memorable wedding.  I have a lot of candidates for that title but, for sheer weirdness, the wedding of Dan and Tammy have to stand above the others.

I’ll let Dan’s words tell the tale: “Everyone wants to make their wedding day unique; with us, we wanted to go in an extremely non-traditional wedding and make it a horror-themed ordeal. [Read more…]

Geez, I hope you two don’t get married with this attitude…!

[Here’s another installment in my “Things You Oughtta Know” series: Tips you’ll find useful before walking down that aisle.]

We all know that the exchange of wedding rings is one of the most beautiful parts of any wedding.  But, my experience has shown me that three things could happen when you try to put a ring on someone else’s finger: [Read more…]

[I often tell my couples, “Every wedding has a story. By the time your ceremony is over, I’ll know your story, too!” — Welcome to the first in (what I hope is) a long series of those stories.]

There are two things I’ll never forget about Damien and Allison getting married:

– The Mission Inn in Riverside is a fantastic wedding venue. The whole place is designed to look like an old Spanish mission, and its chapel is a beautiful place to get married.

I remember the procession: the rear door opened, and the bridesmaids came in one by one.  The doors closed, and Allison took her place for her appearance; once she was ready, the whole rear wall opened up (parting in two, like a set of doors) for her and her father to come in – amazing! [Read more…]