Sunday, March 28, 2010

Wedding

As you may have guessed, my long absence from writing is largely due to the wedding of my daughter.  Eons ago when I got married my mother was with me every step of the way.  I was still living at home.  My daughter, on the other hand, has been living in Utah going to school, so I haven't been able to be there for her like my mom was there for me.  In many ways I felt left out.  In other ways I was worried I was letting my daughter down.

It is funny how we can become so intensely engrossed in the small, not so important things.  That is probably my greatest weakness.  Perhaps it is associated with obsessive compulsive disorder, but I am often so distracted by minute details that I forget about the big picture.  In that sense it is a good thing I was not always there for my daughter.

Within my church marriage is a very sacred covenant.  The objective is always to be married in a temple.  A person must live up to a certain level of standards in order to be worthy to go to the temple.  It is not always easy to live up to all of those standards. 

My husband and I were married in the Provo temple.  My daughter and her husband were married in the Manti temple, which is about an hour and a half drive south of Provo.  It is a very beautiful temple with a long, rich history.  I had never been there before.

You would think the only people who would be terribly nervous on the day of a wedding would be the bride and groom.  I think the bride and groom in this case were so eager to make the committment, they were probably more calm than some of we parents.  I do not think I could have seen two more happy people as they finished the ceremony with a kiss.

Immediately following the wedding, pictures were taken.  Then the small group who could attend inside the temple, or had waited outside, all went to have a luncheon at a nearby restraunt.  For a small town like Manti, the food was remarkably good.  Since we don't drink alcohol, we had a toast with water.  It was wonderful to have family members reunited on such a special occasion.

After driving back up to the Provo/Orem area, we didn't have much time before we were supposed to be at the reception center for more photos.  That part didn't go well.  The bride and groom became rather preoccupied with enjoying their new marital bliss.  They arrived late and my daughter's hair was a mess - an amazing fete given that it had been practically glued in place that morning before the wedding ceremony.

A lot of other people arrived late as well.  Apparently there was some poor communication regarding when people needed to be where.  Still, we got in some good photos before the crowds arrived.  You know, during all the time I spent there I never once had a chance to get anything to eat.  People now keep asking me about how the food was - and I honestly have no idea.  Thank heaven I had the whole thing set up at a reception center.  It was worth every penny.  The stress it saved me was priceless.  I was already befuddled enough without having those extra worries.

In the end, the important things happened as they should.  The bride was radiantly, breathtakingly beautiful, just as she had always dreamed she would be on her wedding day.  The groom could not have been more handsome or completely enamored by his new wife. 

My second daughter caught the bridal bouquet.  She seems to have a knack for such things.  She's caught the last three bridal bouquets.  My 18 year old nephew got the garter.  He had no idea what to do with the thing.  We told him to hang it on his rear view mirror as soon as he got a car.  Speaking of cars, the happy couple's car was decorated three times over.  Some people said that at least 60 different car fresheners were hidden inside.  Of course, the most important part was what it said on the back "just married." 

When it came time for them to go, all the guests lined the walkway to the heavily decorated car.  After working their way through a few booby traps, the bride and groom took off.

My daughter may have some serious illness issues, but clearly the best medicine for her is the man she married.  I'm very glad they found each other.

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