Marriage & Wedding Information

June Weddings


From the book Spider's Big Catch

As June wraps its arms around us like the warm hug of a favorite aunt, I begin to think about weddings. I've been a musician for thirty years, and I've played at scores of weddings and receptions, sometimes more than once for the same person. It was a way to make a living-the money was good and there was usually decent food.

As a wedding soloist, I'd sit off to the side, watching brides in white dresses and grooms in rented tuxedos promise to love each other forever. But somehow, I couldn't shake a sadness that always hung over me as I watched, knowing that one in every two marriages will fail.

I can't explain it, but over the years, I developed an eye for knowing whether a couple was going to make it or not. There was just something about the way the bride and groom related to each other-the look in their eyes and their body language-that offered clues as to how their marriage was going to turn out.

Then one afternoon, while our band was playing for a large reception in a small town ballroom, I casually looked across the vast sea of people. My glance moved from table to table, until I saw the bride and groom, sitting alone in a corner. They were sitting in total ease, holding hands, saying nothing.

Her flowing white dress and his tuxedo seemed out of place, but their happiness and comfort with each other was totally apparent. There was no question that those two people belonged together. They would've been sitting there in those same two chairs, still holding hands in exactly the same way, if they'd been wearing blue jeans and overalls at someone else's reception.

They were at a party, to be sure-a big, loud party. But the party was really for the benefit of everyone else in attendance. They were totally comfortable just sitting in their corner, out of the limelight, watching the people they loved having a good time.

As cynical as I'd become over the years, something struck me at that moment as I watched that couple. I realized that weddings actually represent the triumph of the human spirit. Every marriage is a public statement by two people, letting the whole world know that together, they choose to believe that their union will be the one-in-two that lasts.

When thought of in that way, every wedding really symbolizes a victory of hope-in the face of all odds. Sure, it'll take all their courage and strength to succeed, but no matter what, couples continue to try.

They know the statistics are against them-but they look straight into the eyes of the odds makers and say, "So what?"

And why not? Throughout history, people have staked their fortunes, and sometimes their very lives, on less than a 50-50 chance.

Maybe that's why we hold so many weddings in the month of June. It's a month that can be unpredictable-full of warmth and promise one minute, and then suddenly becoming stormy and filled with uncertainty.

As for me, since seeing that couple, holding hands at their reception, I've begun singing my wedding solos with a renewed hope-embodied by two people at the altar, vowing to face their future together, in spite of overwhelming odds.

2004. Gary E. Anderson. All rights reserved.

About The Author

Gary Anderson is a freelance writer, editor, ghostwriter, and manuscript analyst, living on a small Iowa farm. He's published more than 500 articles and four books. He's also ghosted a dozen books, edited more than 30 full-length manuscripts, produced seven newsletters, and has done more than 800 manuscript reviews for various publishers around the nation. If you need writing or editing help, visit Gary's website at www.abciowa.com. abciowa@alpinecom.net


MORE RESOURCES:

Going Out: The Secret Marriage: Wedding Daze
RedOrbit, TX - Oct 4, 2008
By Kenneth Walton DOMENICA CIMAROSA HAS suffered understandably from a mixed press. That was partly due to an accident of birth. Slightly older than Mozart, ...


Daily Mail

It's over: Trinny Woodall leaves her wedding ring at home as she ...
Daily Mail, UK - Oct 12, 2008
By Daily Mail Reporter Fashion critic Trinny Woodall is to divorce her husband of nine years after a four-month battle to save her marriage failed. ...


Is my fiance using me for my money?
NEWS.com.au, Australia - Oct 6, 2008
Dear Bossy: My question relates to my fiancee. We have been going out for eight months and recently I asked her to marry me, to which she said “yes”. ...


BBC News

What choice now for the Big Day?
BBC News, UK - Oct 1, 2008
By Victoria Bone Couples in England now have a greater choice about which church they can choose for their wedding. They can marry anywhere they have lived ...
Wedding Bells Ring In Legal Change Sky News
all 120 news articles


Readers recommend: songs about machines, robots and computers
guardian.co.uk, UK - Sep 25, 2008
Pocket calculators at the ready ... how many Kraftwerk nominations will get donded this week? Photograph: Reuters If I had listened to the recommendations ...


Wedding superstitions and customs
Culpeper Star Exponent, VA - Oct 5, 2008
Well, it’s official! The date is set and the church is confirmed. Steve has been over here for the past week so as you can imagine it has been a bit of a ...


PGI, GroomGroove.com host proposal contest
National Jeweler Network, NY - Sep 25, 2008
New York—Platinum Guild International (PGI) and engagement and wedding Web site GroomGroove.com have partnered to launch a marriage-proposal story contest. ...


Post Chronicle

Jimmy Smits Stabs Stuntman and Howard Stern Takes Second Stab At ...
Post Chronicle - Oct 4, 2008
Howard Stern finally took a stab at marriage, wedding longtime girlfriend Beth Ostrosky. Smits grabbed a real knife instead of a prop knife during shooting ...


《欲望都市》:Auld Lang Syne
浙江都市网, China - Sep 16, 2008
恋恋不舍的我们和恋恋不舍的Sarah Jessica一起走回四年前的那个city。 电影看完,我翻了最后一季的大结局出来看。不管是第多少遍,总是在Carrie低头拣钻石Big走进旋转 ...

Marriage-Wedding - Google News

home | site map
© 2006