wedding nerves

I whinge sometimes.
(OK I know you think all ministers are paragons of virtue and I hate to be the one to break it to you - but Vicars are not perfect.)

Anyway, I had been moaning to a colleague at the UK Wedding Show because I hardly ever get to officiate at weddings now that I'm not in regular parish ministry. He rather gallantly offered me the chance to cover two weddings for him. Greater love has no Vicar and all that... (though I suspect that the dates in question coincided with football matches or something good on telly).

The first of these was last weekend. It was a fabulous sunny day and the young couple were lovely. Happily the ceremony went without a hitch, but I had completely underestimated just how difficult it would be to simply take over from someone else.

Fortunately we had a rehearsal and walked through the service the week before, which gave me the chance to familiarise myself with the layout of the church and where we would sign the registers etc. But I confess to being very jittery throughout the rest of that week leading up to the wedding day.

Getting married is a very serious affair and should be treated as such, but there are lots of things that could go wrong that are potentially quite comical, and these pitfalls are not limited to blunders by the wedding party.

You might be totally engulfed by your own fears of tripping over your dress or nervously laughing hysterically during your vows. Or that someone will shout out an objection. But has it ever occurred to you that the Vicar might be having nightmares about the same issues? Have you ever considered that your minister's knees might be knocking under that cassock?

Officiating at the wedding is a huge responsibility. What if I stumble over my cassock and trip up the bride and her father? What if I turn over 2 pages by accident and miss out a legal bit in the ceremony?

Or - probably the most common fear - what if I suddenly go 'blank' and forget the names of the couple I'm marrying... (I have this fear about funeral services too: that one day I'll forget the name of the deceased or forget to turn up at all, or that I'll fall into the grave on top of the coffin! AARRGGHH!!)

Fortunately I have never done any of those things but the nerves continue, which is why last Saturday saw me dashing off to the loo just before the bride arrived, in all my robes. Trouble is - I can't remember if I left my clip microphone switched on at that point!

So while you're having your pre-wedding nerves - spare a thought for the Vicar. Pray for us as we pray for you. A brief 'Thank You' note and a piece of wedding cake wouldn't go amiss either :-)

LOL
Jan x