Morning, Minister

We'll love until
The end of time
And we'll never be lonely anymore
Because we're

Goin' to the chapel and we're
Gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel and we're
Gonna get married
Gee, I really love you and we're
Gonna get married
Goin' to the chapel of love

THE DIXIE CUPS

It was a picturesque Saturday in Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin for the nuptials of my good friends Tim Greene and Tanya Gillitzer. It was all of 90 degrees and there was exactly, by my count, one idiot in a sport coat for the wedding. But he had a job to and needed to minimally look the part even if he was going to have trouble acting the part. Unlike many weddings the bride and groom had chosen to bypass the standard rehearsal for the night before the ceremony. So I figured it was time for me to walk to the front when I actually saw the parents being escorted down the aisle. What the Hell no two minute warning? Anyway I figured they weren't starting without me :)

Speaking of sport coats. I bought a new one for the ceremony. It was a much lower number than the last one I owned. :) And at $175 it was certainly going to get used whether it was 90 degrees or 115. I was in place for all of 15 seconds having wished the groom good luck and waiting on the bride when I felt the first one. Sweat bead in motion and rolling down my neck. Great one part heat, two part nerves= Jimmy sweating like a faucet. Forget to bring a handkerchief, had "borrowed" a wash cloth from the hotel and pulled it out 3 times to dry my brim with a few more sleeve wipes. The bride seemed sweatless, the groom was on the sweat train with me.

My little sermon:

Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage; only you can do that – through love and patience; through dedication and perseverance; through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other; through tailgates and Badger games, through agonizing through another tragic yet foreseeable Brewer or Packer collapse, through volleyball championships and softball disappointments, through tenderness and laughter; through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences, and by learning to make the important things matter. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you make to stand together as life mates and partners.


















The happy couple post me officially naming them husband and bride. The bride got a little shaken as she questioned the script I was following that she prepared due to the order of events. But let's face it the guy with the paper taped inside the bible is probably going to get it right, and he did :). I want to say that both the bride and groom did a fabulous job on their vows. Poignant and funny, pretty much all you can ask for. Yes the officiant looks very happy in this picture. Two reasons...He is heading in to put on his shorts and he is heading to the bar to grab the first of many cold beverages.




I gave up diet soda two weeks ago and haven't had one since, unless you count the diet root beer that got mixed with rum. Good news is I don't. Had a really good post Vegas weigh in at WW and hope to make it through this weekend without massive damage. Had much fun at the reception. It wasn't any cooler in the tent that night, and I'm sure the cows in the area were happy that night as every fly in a three state radius descended on us. But I danced a little, drank a little, talked a little, drank some more, ate a little, drank a lot, slept a little, got driven back to the hotel, and woke up with a really sore knee. There you have it a day in the life of a 1st time wedding officiant. I'm available for all your wedding needs, boys and girls, girls and girls, boys and boys. Heck if the place has air conditioning I will waive my fee which is zero anyways. Peace, love and marriage, Jim