[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!

– Allison’s dad was one of those strong/silent types.  (You know the type; he’s the kind of guy that women instinctively like, and men take orders from.) At the rehearsal, I told him that Allison wanted me to start the ceremony with the traditional question, “Who gives this woman to this man?”, and told him he could answer any way he liked: “I do”, “Her mother and I do”, “Her family and I do”, “She comes of her own free will”, or anything else he wanted.  He couldn’t decide right then and there which reply to use, so I told him, “No problem; take your time and think about it, and be ready on Saturday.”

As the two of them walked down the aisle, his face was strong and stoic; no surprise there.  When they stopped before me and I asked the question, he inhaled slowly and, with a clear, strong voice, said “She comes of her own free will.”  I thought that was a great response, so I whispered to Damien that he could step forward and take Allison’s hand.  BUT, Dad wasn’t done responding; as Damien stepped up, Dad inhaled again and said (with a now-shaky voice), “… but she comes with the blessing of her mother and me!”

A closer look, and you could see tears running down both his cheeks!  Once Damien saw that, he started leaking, too; once Allison saw both her men in tears, she joined in. Well, I wasn’t about to be left out, so I started tearing up, too; within moments, the entire wedding party had to take a moment to dab away at their eyes…

Unforgettable!