My many roles as wedding officiant

Last night, I had the best meeting with the couple I’m marrying in a few weeks. We ironed out the ceremony (which is going to rock and from which I can’t *wait* to see pictures) and I know my roles and responsibilities. Now, I have to find an all black gown and a good looking cloak so that I can be in proper garb.

What’s cool about officiating weddings is that I often take on a much bigger role than most officiants. I often end up being the de facto Emcee as well, where I announce the fun goings-on and play a role in the way the entire day/evening unfolds.

At one wedding, I ended up being a flower arranger when the groom’s step-mom ended up without flowers. We stole flowers from tables and the other bouquets to make one for her so she could wear it as they processed down the aisle. Of course, no one realized the gaff until right before the ceremony so we were flying around like banshees trying to find florists tape.

At another wedding, the musician who was supposed to play the processional on a harp never showed. Luckily, I had a recorder and my sound system in my car (I always have at least one instrument and my sound system in the car for every wedding now, just in case). So, I ended up playing a hot pink plastic soprano recorder into one of my mics for the processional before I then officiated the ceremony itself.

Luckily, I know a bunch of medieval and renaissance tunes on that thing, and I was able to play fun sprightly tunes for the flower girls, a couple of nice marches for the bridal party, and the bride got one of my favorite and most elegant of tunes, “Hole in the Wall.” People cried and I was told the processional was one of the most hauntingly beautiful ones they had ever seen.

It was awesome. Hot pink soprano recorder – what a fun way to start a marriage.