My First Scottish Wedding

I officiated at my first wedding in Scotland last Saturday. I am realizing how significant it was
in the formation of my ministry here at St Fergus Parish Church. I saw your good comment,
Big R, and I will respond to it in time. But now I need to reflect on the wedding I officiated at
just the other day. It has been two days since the wedding, and I am realizing how much I in-
vested of myself in crafting the marriage ceremony. Yesterday afternoon after having directed
Sunday worship as well as the wedding, I felt drained and just a little down. Even though I en-
joyed both services. I felt worn out.

I started meeting with the bride and the groom a month before the wedding. I can imagine that
they were wondering what this tall American dude/minister would do. The groom, who is in his
late twenties, has been working as a hair dresser since he was 14. He and his older brother be-
gan their own hair dresser shop when he was 17. The elder brother has emigrated to Australia,
but the groom has developed the shop into a successful small business that also trains young
people for hair styling of both women and men. One of the first trainees was the bride. For over
thirteen years she has found a vocation at the hair shop, and for over twelve years has been with
the groom. Just several weeks ago, the bride and groom moved into their new beautiful home
that the groom and his father have been working on for the past eight years. I believe I have
gained two great friends as we have met together to get to know one another and plan for the
wedding.

I spent considerable time researching how weddings are conducted here in the North-East of 
Scotland. I asked questions of ministers and other people about the weddings they had been 
part of or attended, and watched a video of one wedding in St Fergus Parish Church. The lay-
out of the sanctuary posed some stiff challenges for me as I thought through the service. The 
bride and groom didn't really know what to do for the wedding, and were looking to me to tell 
them what to do. Things really came together at the wedding rehearsal. The bride and her maid 
of honor took my suggestions and added their input. I witnessed the transformation of the bride's 
view of her own wedding. The wedding had always been important to the bride, but something happened there at the rehearsal. Focusing on the rapidly approaching wedding date, something 
clicked within her and, in a way, she entered into her own wedding dance. It seemed to me that 
when the groom sensed that, something clicked in him, too, and he joined her. Together they be-
gan to dance the dance that crested on their wedding day. There were no thunderclaps or halle-
lujah choruses, but something was transformed in the couple. The result was a wedding that 
was honoring of marriage, beautiful, fun, and deeply meaningful, especially to the couple. 

As I write this post, it is raining heavily outside and there is a barrage of thunder. I enjoy listen-
ing to the downpour on the windows and rolling heavenly booms. There is more that I want to
share about the wedding, but I will put that off for a day or two.

Until then, blessings to you and yours,