Wedding Season - The Return

02-06-2013

Before myself and the lady friend bought our house we had a year with many weddings in it. Four, which by some wedding year standards is pretty tame, but still four weddings. It didn't help that all four were from my side of the social spectrum, meaning that I had to take full blame for them. I've heard of some people having as many as eight weddings in a year, but we both figured that a year with four in it would be our 'Year of Weddings'.

Then H, the old housemate from The Roommate Chronicles, laughed evilly at us and called us fools.

Fools, she said, because you have only had the tip of the iceberg, the rest is still to come.

It is a rare thing, but once ina blue moon H is spot on the money. As it turns out this year we have four weddings again, well three and our own. But that is still four no matter how you cut it. In fact two of the weddings both happen in June, one week after the other. And as you read this you lanky bastard, you know who you are, that is your fault. July just didn't work for you, that it?

I kid, I kid. I hate your guts, your bride should run for the hills

Anyway, myself and the lady friend are just back from wedding number one. A first for me in many aspects. It was the first time that I have been at a wedding abroad, as this one took place in Spain. This in itself was something of a novelty as you manage to get a short "city break" in the same trip as the wedding trip itself. Plus the wedding took place in a nice little village church outside of Malaga, which is the sort of thing I've only ever seen in movies. White washed buildings and sunny blue skies, picturesque to beat the band. The day itself went off as perfect as you could want for a happy couple, if we ignore the slight microphone malfunctions during the speeches at the reception. Everyone had a good time, the mixed group of friends from home and work got along swimmingly well and the bride and groom were smiling from ear to ear the entire time.

The other first, for myself at least, was that this was the first time I met the priest who will be performing my own nuptials to the lady friend in November.

See both the lady friend and her work friend, whose wedding we are just back from, work with a priest. Both girls thought it would be nice to have him perform the ceremonies for them respectively, as in this day and age it is a little rare for parish priests to actually know the couple as well as in years gone by. I think this was a nice idea and the priest, for all his exclamations, was only too happy to perform both weddings for the girls.

So, while the bride-to-be and the bride-just-been have both spoken with the priest I was still to meet him for the first time. Given my views with certain aspects of religion, the lady friend figured her work colleague was the best priest for the job. Mainly because he disagrees with a lot of what the secular world says and does himself. He is so open minded it is a surprise to most folk when they learn he is a priest.

I liked him from the outset.

The lady friend and her work buddies, on a night out, had warned me that the priest was big on asking questions, so much so that they had built up this mental image for me of a man that rarely answered things in his pursuit of gathering knowledge. This stems from the fact that for years he worked as a journalist for various newspapers around Ireland. I was told to prepare to be questioned within an inch of my life.

This never happened.

Questions were asked, true, but not nearly as bad as the girls suggested. It was more a "getting to know you" question and answer session and to be honest I usually talk the hind legs off a donkey anyway so it worked well. As we left each other in the airport this morning, catching different return flights home, I was actually really happy with the lady friend's choice in the priest for our wedding. A nicer man you would be hard pressed to meet, a more interesting man you'd have trouble finding also. Plus, given that he neither acts nor talks very priest like, I reckon I will have to convince the guests at our wedding that we actually do have a priest.

I will finish on a note to the newlyweds: Congratulations once again and may you have many years of such happiness that it sickens those around you.

Blue_jester