Wedding

I was involved in another wedding this past weekend. This time for our niece on Jane's side of the family. It was very lovely and went well.

Greg and Allison are in their forties (I think). They've been together for several years. I believe they have both been married before as well. Plus it was a relatively small wedding. So it didn't involve much work at all, and I was actually quite honored to be asked to officiate.

They had it at a new-ish wedding venue outside Kewanee, Illinois. It was an old horse barn and, while it's been somewhat modernized, still has a very rustic look and feel. It was a cool place for both the wedding and reception. The wedding took place out back of the barn up against the surrounding corn field.

They just had one person each stand up with them, plus a flower girl and ring bearer. There were probably just under 100 people in attendance. I think the ceremony lasted right about 20 minutes from the beginning of the processional to the recessional. That's just about right as far as I'm concerned.

It was a fairly traditional ceremony. I gave a short, short talk, and they both read vows they had written themselves plus the standard vows and exchange of rings.

The only real glitch was the unity candle. Trying to keep candles lit outdoors was going to be next to impossible, so at the last minute I talked them into ditching that. We did it inside at the reception before the meal blessing instead. It was fine and they were fine with it.

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As for me... I actually felt pretty good. I was plenty nervous at the rehearsal the night before. All of a sudden I realized just how much I had forgot in the last several years since my last wedding (apparently it's been 3 years). However, on the day of the wedding, I wasn't all that nervous. I suppose it helped that I was excited to be a part of the ceremony. So I was really happy about that.