June Weddings

Home
>
Marriage & Wedding
>
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.

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

In The News:

New York Times
Eloping to Vegas? Why Not Lower Manhattan?
New York Times, United States - Jan 7, 2009
â€œWith these new digs, there might just be a new world wedding capital.â€ The city clerkâ€™s office issued 66600 marriage licenses in 2007 and performed about ...
Manhattan's new Marriage Bureau earns wows as a place to say your vows New York Daily News
NY hears wedding bells, aims to compete with Vegas The Associated Press
Wedding Bells Ring In NYC Marriage Bureau WNYC
Downtown Express - Gothamistall 254 news articles

Washington Post
â€˜Bride Warsâ€™ is a failed marriage | 1 Â½ stars
Kansas City Star, MO - 13 hours ago
And their mutual friends will have to decide which wedding to attend. All would be well if only one of them would cancel (or if they would agree to a double ...
Video: Ann Hathaway's Stellar Year CBS
'Bride Wars' stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are funny allies Los Angeles Times
Two Weddings and a Furor New York Times
Tampa Tribune - Boston Globeall 759 news articles

New York Times
Movie review: Cliches nag 'Not Easily Broken'
San Francisco Chronicle, USA - 5 hours ago
The opening wedding scene in the new Bill Duke film, "Not Easily Broken" is so overwrought and cliched, it's akin to sitting down with a promising novel, ...
Not Easily Broken ( ** ) AHN
Movie Review: â€˜Not Easily Brokenâ€™ is a romantic soap opera that ... Providence Journal
Â» Inspirational drama anything but 'Broken' Chicago Daily Herald
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Kansas City Starall 81 news articles

FOR FAMILIES: A guide for parents to Jan. 9 and earlier releases
Chicago Tribune, United States - 10 hours ago
By Roger Moore | Tribune Newspapers What it's about: Best friends become dueling brides when they both book the wedding they've always dreamed of in the ...

Wearing white and eating cake, Brides magazine turns 75
The Canadian Press, NEW YORK - 21 hours ago
"The magazine is realistic about how people's lives are today, but still the focus is how to have a successful wedding and start a healthy marriage," says ...

Wedding war: Las Vegas versus New York
KVBC, NV - 8 hours ago
The city has renovated it marriage bureau and even built a 24000-square-foot wedding complex with the hope of becoming the most popular wedding site. ...

New York Magazine
City to Make Your Shotgun Marriage Just That Much Nicer
New York Magazine, USA - Jan 7, 2009
Photo: Getty Images Perhaps sensing the economic downturn (and having eventually watched the Sex and the City movie), the city spruced up its civil-wedding ...

MLive.com
Bay County gets older, refrains from marriage, likes guns ...
MLive.com, MI - 19 hours ago
Luczak said economics could be partly to blame, as young couples struggling to get a foothold in life may be putting off the expense of a wedding.

Former First Lady Cornelia Wallace Dies At 69
NBC13.com, AL - 4 hours ago
Just 16 months after their wedding Governor Wallace was shot. The assassination attempt left Wallace paralyzed. Fifty-four days later, he left the hospital ...

KHOU
Houston wedding show could help brides on a budget
KHOU, TX - Jan 7, 2009
â€œI refuse to go into this marriage in debt, â€œ says Ashley. â€œThat's no way to start out.â€ -- Watch the flowers. All those arrangements can quickly add up. ...

marriage wedding - Google News

Your Ad Here

June Weddings

Marriage & Wedding Marriage & Wedding