Wedding on the grass

Andrew, the son of our friends Carol and Don, got married to Lillian yesterday, and Chris and I, with our friends Elva, Laurie, Francine and Roger, were among the guests at this lovely wedding which took place under maple trees in the open air, at Temple's sugar bush in Lanark County.

One of the young men from Lillian's family played Don's electronic piano as we arrived to take our seats on the lawn between the trees. Andrew, looking appropriately handsome, with James, his best man, stood in front of us waiting for the bridal party to arrive. How similar weddings all are; people love traditions. However, Chris and I hadn't come across the ceremony where the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom (Anita and Carol) carry lit candles to the front table, where a central, taller candle stands waiting to be ignited by the young couple from these two family flames. Another nice touch was the procession of little children, the "flower girl"and the "ring bearers", before the bride arrived.

Lillian walked down the steps, across the wooden bridge and across the grass on her father's arm. The ceremony was a religious one, incorporating an "Invocation" and an "Exhortation" from Rev. Russell and a Bible reading. The exchange of Marriage Vows and Ring Ceremony, based on the Solemnization of Matrimony in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, was approximately as remembered by Chris and me, but the four hundred year old phrases—"With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship..."—have been down-graded these days to something less than the original poetry and because they have lost that old resonance I'm afraid they're therefore less memorable. Why was it thought necessary to alter "...till death us do part"? wondered Chris, as he drove me home at midnight. Oh well, at least the word committees have thought fit to keep the phrase "foresaking all others"; that's something.

A grey cloud blew over but no rain fell to blot the Registry during the solemn signing and witnessing of signatures (click on my photos to enlarge them). Lillian and Andrew were triumphantly man and wife and could go indoors to celebrate.

After the solemnities and the photo shoot, Lillian's little nephews stopped behaving like miniature adults and started to let off steam. Later, while the grown-ups were making speeches or sitting round tables to eat salads downstairs in the timbered reception room, the children, dressed in aprons with their names on, were upstairs, busy decorating cupcakes. What a great idea.