Wedding 6

On September 10, 2006, I conducted my largest wedding to date, at an actual venue - the Meeting House in Olde Mystic Village. Having arrived at the chapel early, I met a woman who was setting up a guitar and amplifier. She explained that she was a co-worker of the bride and had been asked to sing a processional. The guests started to arrive, dressed in their finery. As I hadn't met the bride and groom prior to the wedding, I wasn't exactly sure who I was waiting for. The couple had explained that this would be a small (20 people), casual wedding, but given that description and it being a Saturday afternoon, the guests were very over-dressed.

The chapel filled with the guests and finally the couple arrived. The guitarist started singing a song - poorly - as the couple entered the meeting house. The bride looked beautiful in a light brown satin beaded dress. The groom looked handsome in a well-fitting suit and it finally dawned on me that I had to give more of a "show" than I had for my living room weddings.

I welcomed the guests, spoke a bit about it being a quintessential New England day in a quintessential New England setting before starting the ceremony. I had earlier explained to the couple that my ceremony is very short - about 5 minutes - and they were fine with that. However, after completion of the ceremony, the guests looked stunned. They had clearly been expecting more, having most likely taken longer to brush their teeth than witness the wedding. I expected the musician to play the couple out of the chapel, but she had already packed up her equipment and was walking out the door, leaving the group with an awkward silence. It was an anti-climatic ending to the ceremony, although the couple looked happy and was anticipating spending time with their friends later that afternoon.