Wonderful and Wacky Weddings

What happens when you mix a heavily pregnant bride, a forgotten vow script, and a toddler tantrum? You get a wedding ceremony officiated by yours truly, filled with laughter, love, and a whole lot of improvisation. Join me as I reminisce about my journey through the world of wedding officiating, where creativity reigned supreme and every ceremony was as unique as the couple standing before me. From the humorous mishaps to those touching moments that brought tears to my eyes, these memories are a testament to the joy of celebrating love in all its forms.

https://hereforthememories.etsy.com

https://buymeacoffee.com/hereforthememories

Memories eStore
Get your Memories swag on! Or don't. Your choice, right?

Listen Notes: "Podcast Search Engine"
"The Best Podcast Search Engine." With over 200 million episodes, let the podcast rabbit hole begin!

Logos Bible Software
Logos Bible Software is a digital library application. It is designed for electronic Bible study.

Descript: Audio Production At Its Finest
All-In-One Editor: Remove filler words & noise. Clone your voice. Use the power of AI. Free trial.

Spotify
The mothership of all podcast sites!

HFTM's Choice For Its eStore Fulfilment
Printful is the on-demand printing and fulfillment company I use for my eStore! 'Nuff said!!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Chapters

• 0:00 Weddings
• 8:49 Memories and Reflections on Weddings

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Here for the memories thought-provoking audio memoir shorts filled with stories, humor, anecdotes and commentary on social, cultural, business and religious issues. Whatever Lyndon remembers and thinks will entertain, challenge and inform is a possible subject. The collection of memories about one's life allows for the development and refinement of a sense of self, including who one is, how one has changed and what one might be like in the future.

Speaker 2: 0:34

Greetings and salutations. This is Lyndon Wolfe and you are at here for the Memories, my audio memoir. Some people call it a podcast, but they're terribly, terribly wrong. So glad you joined. I hope you enjoy today's journey down memory lane as I look at some things about weddings.

Speaker 2: 0:56

As a former pastor, I officiated my share of weddings Some wonderful, some wacky, oftentimes hilarious weddings some wonderful, some wacky, oftentimes hilarious. Now I want you to know that officiating a wedding is far more stressful than eulogizing the deceased. First, the primary subjects in a wedding are still alive, and that's always helpful, and they and their family have expectations of perfection. The dead person does not. Usually the friends and family of the dead person don't care what the pastor is saying because they're so busy weeping, wailing and gnashing their teeth. And with a wedding, there usually has been a great investment of time and money aimed at the perfect date, and that rarely happens.

Speaker 2: 1:39

During my early years, my track record for successful marriages where I performed the wedding was utterly dismal. That's an understatement. Candidly, the first 10 ended in divorce and I had to wait until number 11 for a couple who avoided divorce court, at least to the best of my knowledge. Later my numbers improved, but overall, my failure rate was well above the nearly 50% of marriages in the US that end in divorce. But I really tried. I really tried to do my part In order to make the event unique and special. I always created custom-designed content specific to the couple. Beyond the bare legal requirements, I had no template or boiler plate language for the nuptials. Now, since a ceremony represents a legal contract, three things must take place A statement of the parties, the bride and groom's names, their acknowledgement that they are entering into a covenant, a contract, the vows and their commitment in keeping the contract till death do us part or for as long as we both shall live. But beyond that, I had a lot of freedom and I encouraged a lot of freedom. I expected thoughtful input from the duo and made them aware that they had a tremendous liberty to create something that was non-traditional or novel, something unique to them. Most didn't venture too far from conventional approaches, but there were a few that were particularly unique and I always allow the couple to see my final script and approve, edit or incinerate. A word to the wise never go off script during a wedding, unless something unusual happens and it's not carefully crafted In the case of my niece and her hubby, cody and Rachel Bond. He somehow lost the cheat sheet for the vows that he had carefully written and prepared After a frantic search through his pockets, and that of his best man. He gave that best man a furtive glance and then he went impromptu. And it was amazing. It turned out to be the cherry on top of a very beautiful ceremony.

Speaker 2: 3:49

One wedding included a bride fully eight and a half months into her gestation. She waddled down the aisle escorted by her screaming three-year-old son. The ceremony was paused on multiple occasions due to infant outbursts and the need for the bride to sit and rest for a few moments. At one point, during one of the delays, the groom asked for and got a Miller High Life 16-ounce tall boy beer to calm his nerves, and it wasn't the only one that he had. Needless to say, the marriage didn't last much longer than the wedding itself didn't last much longer than the wedding itself.

Speaker 2: 4:24

One miniature ceremony that included only the bride and groom, the photographer and I. The photographer was there because he acted as a necessary second witness yeah, he was taking pictures too, but he was also the necessary second witness. On the marriage certificate the officiant me was required to complete and mail to the county clerk. At the couple's insistence, the service concluded with me enthusiastically proclaiming you may now grope the bride. I performed the wedding of my son and his wife, samuel Casey. After the service, I completed the form the license and mailed it in. However, the copy they were to receive a few weeks later never arrived. Convinced, I had forgotten. They kept asking me about it. Later they discovered they had given me the wrong address for their new house. I was mortified until the document, returned to the courthouse, was found. I often tell them in that brief span they were living in sin. Let me say that again Living in sin.

Speaker 2: 5:35

The wedding of my nephew and his bride, josh and Erica Wolfe, had the most creative sermon content. The venue was not a church and although there was scripture, they didn't want something traditional or overly religious. They wanted something lighthearted and quirky, just like them. What I produced and they approved and I delivered included references to five movies when Harry Met Sally, jerry Maguire as Good as it Gets, winnie the Pooh and Dora the Explorer. The quotes range from atheist, impressionist painters, reformation, french philosophers, indian sages and TV personality. Here are some excerpts just for your entertainment.

Speaker 2: 6:20

The beginning is usually a good place to start, not the beginning that was a God thing but their beginning. That is especially true of a love story, because a true love story never ends. We are here today because, according to Nora's memorable line in when Harry Met Sally, when you realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible. And today begins the rest of their life, for Joshua and Erica. The rest of their life for Joshua and Erica.

Speaker 2: 7:03

From Jerry Maguire's you Complete Me to Melvin Udall in as Good as it Gets, explaining what love does. When he says to Carol you make me want to be a better man. We see that our society sees covenant relationships as improving others, and that should be the goal of our marriage. And then the big finish, the pronouncement Erica and Joshua, we all pray that you experience the insight of Henry David Thoreau there is no remedy for love but to love more. And that you will say, along with Dora in Finding Nemo when I look at you, I can feel it. When I look at you, I know that I am home. Or as Winnie the Pooh said, if you live to be a hundred, I want to live one hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.

Speaker 2: 7:59

Why don't you take some time to recall some weddings that you attended? Maybe weddings that you participated in, maybe weddings where you were the one that was getting married, the sometimes comedy of errors, the seriousness of the covenant relationship, the friends and family, the pageantry, the preparation all that went into that, whether you were involved or not. Did you cry, did you laugh, did you rejoice? What are those memories related to marriages and weddings that you have carried forward to this day and they have helped shape your perception not only of the covenant of marriage, but also of people themselves. This is Lyndon Wool You've been listening to here for the Memories. So glad you joined, and I pray, as we depart, that you do so with a some additional perspective on weddings and marriage and covenants and things of that nature, but also that you walk away or I don't know, run away maybe thinking about memories, memories of events and people that help you today.

Speaker 1: 9:16

Be a better person. Hello friends, If you appreciate the content and what it takes to create and deliver it, please consider a small contribution. Just go to buymeacoffeecom slash here for the memories. That's buymeacoffeecom slash here for the memories Much appreciated.