It is the ultimate question for anyone planning their wedding. How do we plan the perfect wedding with the perfect atmosphere?
Sitting in a pew watching a radiantly relaxed bride and groom exchanging vows in front of a fully supportive congregation the answer struck me. The perfect wedding, in this instance, was not actually a wedding.
The bride and groom had married, quietly and without fuss, friends or relatives, exactly a year ago. Today their marriage was being blessed with a traditional ceremony in an Oxford chapel, the bride wearing white and attended by bridesmaids, the groom being supported by his Best Man and Ushers. In choosing this unconventional route they had inadvertently but effectively removed most of the possible causes for tension and negativity at a wedding.
Will the bride turn up? Will any one object to the wedding? Has the correct paperwork been completed? Will the marriage last to its first anniversary?
The answer was already "yes".