Traditional and Beautiful

 

John and Christina’s wedding couldn’t have been nicer. Everything was traditional: the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, the church ceremony, and the reception. Traditional and beautiful.

At Christina’s bridal shower, we played a game where we guessed how Christina had answered some questions about the two of them. One asked who would cry first. Caroline and I both wrote down Christina because, as Caroline put it, “John doesn’t cry.” Christina said John would cry first and, as it turned out, she was right. He chocked up when reading his written vows, but I found out later that wasn’t the first time he had cried. Apparently he had cried while getting dressed and again while meeting Christina when she arrived. It was clear from the goofy look on his face when he watched her come down the aisle that there was no sadness or second thoughts in those tears.

Christina’s niece and nephew were the flower girl and ring bearer, although their role was mostly limited to walking down the aisle and then joining their parents in the front row. Six-year-old Ethan made a respectable ring bearer, but three-year-old Emma is a firecracker. There were a few times when she appeared shy, hiding behind one of her parents or her grandfather, but most of the time she bounced around full of energy. According to her mother, she claimed it was her wedding and wanted to go up on stage. Her father took her out, and the wedding proceeded without that disruption.

They weren’t the only children there. The matron of honor’s husband brought four of their five, and the best man and his wife brought their youngest, who is still being weaned. Calvin spent as much time with other people as with his parents. The next photo shows him with my daughter, Caroline, and her husband, Pete.

The reception was a lot of fun, and the younger members of the crowd really got involved in the dancing. That includes John and Christina. The next photo shows him lifting her in the air during their first dance.

It's the small mishaps that make a wedding memorable, however, and John and Christina had a few. As you can see in the dance photo, her traditional dress had a very wide skirt. As they were coming down the aisle together as husband and wife, they stopped a couple of times to kiss. The second time John bent Christina over, and her skirt brushed against one of the vases of flowers that was lining the aisle. (You can see them in the following photo of the chapel at the Chapel Hill Bible Church.) The vase fell over and the water spilled out, so if John’s very klutzy mother hadn’t noticed it before she got there, there might have been another spectacle besides the wedding.

Christina’s dress may have also played a role in the way they drove away from the church. John got her settled in the back seat before going around to the front and driving away as if he were her chauffer. Those of us who watched them leave speculated that her skirt was too wide to fit in the front seat.

Another mishap occurred when Christina tossed the bouquet. She had a special one for throwing, and the individual flowers separated while the bouquet was in the air. If the flying flowers were caught by two or more girls, will they get married on the same day?

I missed the cake cutting because I was outside taking photos of the car being “decorated” by the best man.

The final photo shows the groom’s parents. Aren’t we a handsome couple? We’ve been married for 45 good years, and we wish the same (actually 50 or more) for John and Christina.

But, of course, the best thing about the wedding is that John and Christina were joined together in the type of holy matrimony created by God, where male and female become one. May Christ be the true head of their family and love the glue that holds them together, as Christ’s love does for His own bride, the Church.

Congratulations, Christina and John.