Night weddings always fill me with awe.
My first fascination with night weddings started at the
young age of seven when I witnessed the closing end of a wedding ceremony being
conducted at my local church. In all my years I had only known the concept of
weddings taking place when the sun was shining, and entering dressed in my
finest. But in the dark spying through my church windows saw a lady and a
gentleman at the altar repeating their vows and entering into the sacrament of
holy matrimony. “To have and to hold, in sickness and in health, till death do
us part.” I heard those words on that occasion on the outside of my church building,
and it was there that I fell in love with weddings entirely.
Like I said before,
it’s the nights that hold me. And I had the opportunity of experiencing it once
again four years ago.
This time it was my dear friend at the altar, and, just like
my first night wedding I remembered this one distinctly. The previous Sunday she
whispered to me “Jem, I’m getting married Tuesday night, dress nicely!”
It is with shame that I would admit that I forgot this
whispered conversation, I forgot to dress nicely. I was not dressed for the occasion.
Instead of a pretty cocktail dress, I wore a basic navy blue shirt and a jeans
skirt. Shame!
But let’s forget about me. The church was decorated in
white roses and the aisle was littered with the white petals of the same
flowers. The bride’s daughter was her sole bridesmaid (she beamed for the
entire ceremony) her baby son was dressed in the cutest tuxedo suit ever, the groom
wore a tuxedo that matched his son and the bride wore a lace princess cut white
satin dress. The wedding party looked stunning.
Then, while repeating the same vows I heard at the age of seven, they
stared into each other’s eyes and promised to love and cherish each other, all the while
standing under a rose decorated arbor with that was accentuated with gold tinted
palm leaves and white and green lace ribbons.
This ceremony was a small one, only about fifty persons in
attendance and the reception was held immediately after in the church’s
adjoining annex. There was also decorated with the white roses, palm leaves and
ribbons. I must talk about the food. It was divine! A simple Christmas rice,
Barbeque chicken and potato salad. The bride’s aunt was the cook, she gave me
the best meal I have ever eaten at any wedding ceremony.
Needless to say, the bride and groom stole themselves away
after the short meal to have their official wedding pictures taken at the
Queens Park Savannah, and I was left sighing that, not only was it the shortest
wedding I had ever experienced ( 1 hour 35 mins), it was my second night
wedding, the best food and the tranquil and laid atmosphere added with the
spectacular décor made this wedding one that remains prominent in my memory and
I think it will be there for a long time to come.
Inspiring... we can find so much more meaningful experiences in the simplicity of moments like these. Looking forward to reading more of these.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept of this wedding: simple and enjoyable. Having a wedding at night is a great idea because of the cool weather and no traffic.
ReplyDeletegrt
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