An Overflowing Easter Basket

I haven't figured out if there is an actual correlation between holidays and wedding traffic.  Christmas is busy, New year's Eve not.  Halloween is a crap shoot.  Easter Eve Eve Day, at least this year, was quite busy.  I needed a runner by 11 AM: 4 licenses on the desk → 4 weddings done → still 4 licenses on the desk.  I served 2 very large crowds and and thee were couples arriving as I left.

Advice for Parents: if you want your child's wedding to go well, let your child plan that wedding and be a happy guest. Don't order everyone around and especially don't stand next to the couple during the ceremony glaring at the officiant. That just looks creepy.

On the other end of the family spectrum were the uncontrolled children.  I can handle one toddler who tears around the wedding room yelling.  I'm even OK with two in a row.  There were three separate couples with runaways youngsters, one of whom punched his father the groom in the stomach during the vows.  Luckily, tiny fists don't hurt that much.

There were a few folks from "away", including a bride who'd flown 23 hours the day before just to get to the Bay Area in time for her wedding and a guest dropping in from Dubai to server as the only witness for her friends.  That's dedication.

Fashion report
So much purple!  It took until the second couple with a purple theme for me to make the connection to Easter. One bride wore a white dress with purple lipstick and purple flowers in her bouquet. Most of the large crowd wore a shade of purple, including grape, lilac, and lavender.

The award for best gear of the day goes to the bride with the blue top and orange skirt whose groom wore an orange shirt and blue jeans.  Her bodice had a design of origami cranes forming and flying away - very clever!

By The Numbers
Ceremonies: 14
Formal wear: 9
"As long as I will": 1
Misbehaving child wearing dapper-looking three-piece suit: 1

Hope Springs Eternal

Samuel Johnson called second marriages "the triumph of hope over experience", and I think were he to join me for a week of weddings, he'd double down on that. This past week saw several return Marriage Factory customers, including one couple who'd had 5 previous swings and misses between them. If there's one thing marriage teaches, it's that everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes the marriage is that mistake.

It would seem that being married before affects the chances of success, but luckily, my personal experience belies that. My mother stayed married to my stepfather from 1981 until she passed away. I have relatives and friends in very happy second or even third marriages. I am married to someone who has been married once before. We have been married almost 15 years, so it seems to have taken. Since America is the land of reinvention, why shouldn't that apply to weddings?

Fashion report
It was all about tiger print this week, with one bride in tiger-print heels and another in a tiger-print blouse.  The winner was my final couple, with guests dressed in flowing multicolored saris and the bride in a black gown with gold detailing and beads.

By the numbers
Ceremonies: 10
Formal wear: 8
Couple who had a large crowd at their confidential wedding: 1