and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours,
we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness
and call it love.
Robert Fulghum
When people learn that I officiate weddings, inevitably they ask me, “what was your oddest wedding experience?” I’ve had many an odd experience and inevitably people say, “you should write a book!” I probably should. For now, though, I’ve written this post in which I highlight ten of the most odd wedding moments I’ve encountered. . .
Enjoy!
- There are different ways for rings to be presented to the couple. Ring bearers are cute but it takes a brave couple willing to let a 4-year old carry rings that have cost thousands of dollars. It’s often customary for the Best Man / Person to hold both rings, though it’s becoming more common for the Best and the Maid/Person of Honor to present the rings. BUT – the oddest was when the bride’s cousin, a professional Belly Dancer, presented the rings while doing a belly dance with a sword balanced on her head!
- It was a scorching hot summer day. The ceremony was outdoors at a venue that had a panoramic view of Los Angeles. What it didn’t have was – shade. The bride’s sister was invited to read a poem. How lovely. BUT – the sister instead opted to write a meditation on “what is marriage?” The reflection was three pages, single spaced. It quickly became apparent to all that the reflection had been written in a state of disillusionment about marriage as her “words of wisdom” were dreary and cautionary. The bride’s mascara started to run, the guests grew restless and my black suit jacket became soaked in sweat. Afterwards, I learned that the sister had just gone through a bitter divorce from her cheating husband!
- The couple decided to host their wedding at the house they had bought and were having renovated. Bride and groom had each been married before. The groom had a young adult daughter and the bride had a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. I arrived to the tarp-covered setting to find the bride’s daughter huddled in the corner sobbing. Turns out, her mother only told her about the wedding that morning! The daughter didn’t like her soon-to-be step-dad.
- The groom told me that he was a musician and that he wanted to surprise his bride by singing his personal vows. He had forgotten to tune his guitar prior to the ceremony and he was so nervous that his voice cracked and he blanked on a portion of the “vow lyrics.” Achy-breaky heart, indeed!
- I will never understand a wedding from a bride’s p.o.v. – especially that of the bride who hired two “bridesmaids” so as to have symmetry with the groomsmen. She believed symmetry was important for a good Instagram look. This was also the bride who asked me to make the ceremony as long as possible because she had spent a significant amount of money on the ceremony arch and wanted to get her money’s worth of time in front of it!
If you want tips on how to communicate in smart, healthy ways with your partner – during wedding planning and beyond –
check out my book,
How to Plan Your Wedding AND Stay Sane!
OR –
Treat you and your partner to a communications coaching session with me.
Click HERE for details!