Ah, June! The month for weddings! Such a beautiful time filled with tradition and meaning. So wonderful!

    Except I really don't care for weddings. There are reasons for this that only another minister would really understand. I have often said that I would rather do ten funerals than one wedding.

    The TV program America's Funniest Videos has a lot to do with my dislike. Before AFV came on the air, weddings were dignified things. Once AFV became a thing, there were those who decided that they could make something funny happen and it would be hilarious! But a planned mishap often turns into something mean. This is a serious thing that this young man and woman are doing and someone who thinks they are funny is going to ruin a perfectly good wedding.

    June was always a busy month. One year I did five weddings in June. One of those weddings was sandwiched in between two funerals. At the wedding, the bride and the girls were late. The concerned groom asked what we were going to do. At the rehearsal, I always tell the folks that if anyone is late to the wedding, we will start without them. So, I told the groom that we would start without the bride. If she still wasn't there by the time for the vows, we would end the proceedings. My schedule was really tight that day. One of our men was a photographer and was shooting the wedding. Just before time to start he motioned to me from the back of the church that they were all there. The first girl started down the aisle, and she looked rough. Her make-up looked like it had been done in a fast car on a bumpy road. Her hair was a mess and she looked exhausted. As she got to the front, the second girl started down, and all the people turned to watch her. If anything, she looked worse. I stepped over to the first girl and whispered, "Where have you been?" She looked close to tears. She told me there had been an accident and they were coming from ER. The girls were going to get dressed at the bride's mother's house, so the dresses were all there. The mother had brought them to the hospital, along with the wedding dress, so everyone could get dressed. That had to be a scene. 

    In case you are wondering why they never called anyone about the accident, the answer is, I don't know.

    The bride finally started down the aisle. She wore a fresh leg cast that clumped with each step. She could barely walk, largely because of the massive amounts of pain medicine. We did the wedding, after which I went and did my second funeral. Marsha and I then went to the wedding reception. Everyone seemed to have a great time except for the bride and her girls. The bride slept through most of it and the girls just sat, not even talking. 

    Now, I am not saying all weddings are bad. Some are beautiful and memorable in a good way. Especially nice are the weddings in which I have seen one of the participants grow up. In 2018 I did my cousin's daughter's wedding, and I had watched her grow up from a baby on. But weddings are a ton of work. The people involved have no idea how weddings actually work and they want to fool around and crack everyone up. When you go to a wedding and see how pretty it is, you have no real idea of how every little detail has been worked out. Many weddings have wedding planners, but I have never been that lucky.

    When our son got married, they used Kimberly's pastor. Folks thought I would be upset, but I was thrilled. I don't think I could have made it through that one. But there was one wedding I would have liked to have been a part of. You may not believe this story, but it is true.

    I was at the Cleveland Clinic one day (and this was 30 years ago, at least) to be with a family as their loved one had surgery. I was finally going home, but when I stepped off the elevator at the main entrance and there were about a hundred people in suits and fancy dresses standing around and looking toward the chapel doors. I was intrigued and I ask a lady standing there what was going on. Apparently, a young couple was going to get married on that particular day. But a few weeks earlier the groom to be had been T-boned in his car by a semi. Somehow, he lived through it, but he had to have extensive surgery and more was coming. Still, he wanted to get married on his wedding day. The hospital arranged it and the wedding was held in the hospital chapel. It would seat only about 20 people, so the guests were assembled outside the chapel doors. The young man would leave the chapel and go straight back to intensive care. And, the lady told me, they had arranged for him to stand by his bride. That part didn't resonate with me, and it went past my head. Just then someone called out, "Here they come!" And this is the part you won't believe. The groom was in a body cast and was being push along on a hand truck. He was strapped to the hand truck with an appliance strap. A couple of men walked along side of him to help his balance, and his bride, who was just beaming, walked right next to him holding his hand. He was pushed by a maintenance man who had a tie on for the occasion. And to make it perfect, some clever hospital worker had painted a full tux on the body cast. I kept up with the story until he was released. Back then there were no rules like they have now and if you were a minister registered with chaplain's office, they would tell you anything. The groom eventually went home. Doctors were hoping he would walk again, but that was up in the air. However, it will always be an interesting memory for anyone who was there.

    So enjoy your June. And, if you feel the urge to get married, I can find you a minister.