A proper Hobbit wedding!

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I married my niece this past weekend. Now that is something I never thought I would say since I am not from Arkansas (Yes, our camp director is from Arkansas, and Musial is a friend of mine and graduated from the University of  Arkansas). 

The big day started early and was relaxing; if relaxing is defined as my sister (the bride's mother) running around the house yelling, "Where is my phone? I can't find my phone. Roger, stop telling me to look in the bathroom or wait. I found it in the bathroom. Where are my keys, Kim? What did you do with my keys? If you tell me to look in the key bowl one more time, I think I will scream, oh wait, I found them in the key bowl. My shoes, where did I put my shoes? Oh, never mind, I am wearing them. Ok, I gotta go get my hair done, by, love you."

Then Kim (my sister's husband and my brother) asked how many chairs should we set up? The venue is outside and a beautiful spot, but it needs to be set up. The question arose from the fact that there were 150 chairs, and they needed to be symmetrical, so I got to use my math skills. I said, "There are 150 chairs and two sections so just put 80 chairs in each section; how hard is that?" Kim, a retired financial advisor, looked at me and said, "Hey Roger can you do me a favor and get dressed so we can get the venue set up." 

I was glad to help and show off my math skills simultaneously.

Yes, it was a very relaxing morning. 

The wedding went off without a hitch; that is, if your definition of without a hitch includes the bride and the groom not saying their vows during the ceremony!

Hannah and Justin had decided to write their own vows, so I crossed out the traditional vows I had for the ceremony. Everything was going swimmingly until I pulled a Ron Burgundy and read my notes, going right passed the crossed-out part, and we finished the ceremony. No one even noticed until we were finished.

The village idiot strikes again!

Well, I could not have them get married without saying their vows, so the first thing we did at the reception was to bring them together, and they read their vows to each other. It turned out to be amazing, with everyone laughing and crying, and I even got to say, "Hannah, now you can kiss your husband!"

Justin got to kiss his bride during the first ceremony, and Hannah got to attack, I mean kiss her husband, at the second ceremony! 

A proper Hobbit wedding!

It turned out to be a fantastic adaptation; when people asked me if I had done that before, I said yes. In fact, I patented the ceremony. 

One of my other nieces came up and said when I get married, you are doing my wedding, I never said we raised them smart in the Button clan. 

As I thought about my mistake, I kicked myself pretty hard for a while; until Hannah came up to me and grabbed both my hands, looked me deeply in the eyes, and said, "The wedding was perfect. Doing the vows like that made it even better. I love you."

Later after I had time to ruminate on the whole thing, which of course, led to pondering. I realized the similarity between what had happened and the book, Who moved my Cheese, "When You Stop Being Afraid, You Feel Good. 

In the end, we had found a new wrinkle to use in wedding ceremonies. Do the traditional vows during the ceremony and the vows that the groom and bride write for each other at the start of the reception. 

It was magic. 

Just remember, "When You See That You Can Find And Enjoy New Cheese, You Change Course."

Blessings,

Roger