Original post: March 24, 2015
Despite several people telling me different, Friday was not the first day of spring. It was the day before the first day of spring. That did not stop all manner of folk from deciding to ring in the new season with a new spouse.
The Marriage Factory was busier for me than it's been since Valentine's Day. More importantly, I got to train a new clerk/marriage commissioner. I've trained a few in the 6+ years I've been doing weddings, and it's great to watch someone learn how to guide the couple to the best possible experience. That includes understanding how to control a crowd, knowing the ins and outs of the paperwork, and above all, spreading what joy we have on their special day. Mostly it's about making sure the names are spelled right, trying to keep the kids quiet, and repeating the vows until the bride & groom hear them.
This week was no different in those respects: a nervous bride who rocked back and forth from "I (your name here)" through "I now pronounce you", a license that had to be reprinted twice for the same mistake, and various children tearing around the room.
When the new clerk was ready for her first wedding, I let her take the lead. She did a great job, especially since she knew the couple. It was a surprise to both her and them. They are having a large ceremony later this month in which the clerk's former beau is a groomsman. She handled what could have been a very awkward situation with far more aplomb than I might have, sending them on their way with a great souvenir picture to show their soon-to-be bridal party.
Fashion report
The day started with a bang: a beautiful black dress with beaded backing and a silver headpiece. There were several suits and a traditional cotton wedding dress and shirt.
By the numbers
Ceremonies: 14
Formal wear: 9
Toddlers in pin-stripe suits with ties: sadly, only 1
Showing posts with label busy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label busy. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Día De San Valentín
Original post: February 18, 2015
Valentine's Day is a busy day for weddings at the Marriage Factory, as you might imagine. It's not a madhouse, like 8/8/08 or 11/11/11, but a lot of folks put a lot of stock in calendar-based romance. So many did this year that the Hall of Records opened on a Saturday just to marry those romantic souls, even taking appointments.
When a couple gets married at the Hall of Records, they can choose to have the ceremony in one of several non-English languages, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Spanish among them. Four years of high school Spanish classes, and a little help from a couple of fluent friends, qualify me as a bilingual marriage commissioner. I can conduct weddings en Español. The English to Spanish ratio on an average Friday is 4:1, mas o menos.
There were 5 commissioners on hand Saturday, more than enough to handle the traffic. Since I was the only Spanish speaker, I got all the Spanish-language weddings. That kept me very busy. The groups ranged from 3-person walk-ins to full houses chanting "Beso! Beso!" when the ceremony was finished.
One challenge with Spanish weddings is that I know the ceremony very well, but I'm not good at free-style conversation. I can say "Please silence your phones." or "Do you have rings?" but trouble arises with something complicated like "You have to go downstairs and ask the clerk for your legal certificate, which might take 10-15 minutes before it's ready." Luckily, at least one person in every group spoke or understood enough English that I could communicate the next steps after the ceremony, and I struggled my way through it a couple times in Spanish, just for good measure.
We opened at 9 and got everyone done by 2, which was a credit mostly to the wonderful clerks who got folks registered, including a bunch of walk-ins, fixed typos, and made sure licenses got recorded properly. They even got us donuts and pizza!
Fashion report
Lots of beautiful dresses and suits, of course. Why get married on Valentine's Day if you're not going to do it right?
By the numbers
Total ceremonies: 40
Ceremonies conducted by me: 15
Spanish ceremonies: 14
Formal wear: 12
Donuts eaten: 2
Valentine's Day is a busy day for weddings at the Marriage Factory, as you might imagine. It's not a madhouse, like 8/8/08 or 11/11/11, but a lot of folks put a lot of stock in calendar-based romance. So many did this year that the Hall of Records opened on a Saturday just to marry those romantic souls, even taking appointments.
When a couple gets married at the Hall of Records, they can choose to have the ceremony in one of several non-English languages, Cantonese, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Spanish among them. Four years of high school Spanish classes, and a little help from a couple of fluent friends, qualify me as a bilingual marriage commissioner. I can conduct weddings en Español. The English to Spanish ratio on an average Friday is 4:1, mas o menos.
There were 5 commissioners on hand Saturday, more than enough to handle the traffic. Since I was the only Spanish speaker, I got all the Spanish-language weddings. That kept me very busy. The groups ranged from 3-person walk-ins to full houses chanting "Beso! Beso!" when the ceremony was finished.
One challenge with Spanish weddings is that I know the ceremony very well, but I'm not good at free-style conversation. I can say "Please silence your phones." or "Do you have rings?" but trouble arises with something complicated like "You have to go downstairs and ask the clerk for your legal certificate, which might take 10-15 minutes before it's ready." Luckily, at least one person in every group spoke or understood enough English that I could communicate the next steps after the ceremony, and I struggled my way through it a couple times in Spanish, just for good measure.
We opened at 9 and got everyone done by 2, which was a credit mostly to the wonderful clerks who got folks registered, including a bunch of walk-ins, fixed typos, and made sure licenses got recorded properly. They even got us donuts and pizza!
Fashion report
Lots of beautiful dresses and suits, of course. Why get married on Valentine's Day if you're not going to do it right?
By the numbers
Total ceremonies: 40
Ceremonies conducted by me: 15
Spanish ceremonies: 14
Formal wear: 12
Donuts eaten: 2
Hoppin' New Year!
Original post: January 6, 2015
New Year's Eve at the Marriage Factory was surprisingly tame in the wake of Monday and Tuesday's 30 weddings apiece . Imagine my surprise when Friday was busier than ever! My average is 8-10 weddings; this week, I did 16.
The largest group was about 35 people - 2 elevators' worth. Once they arrived, everything went fine, although the groom went with "I will be true to you as long as I will", not "as long as I live". Usually when the bride catches that, she is not happy.
There were 2 or 3 nervous brides. One swiveled back and forth during the vows, making me almost say "Grow gently with each other and do the twist" instead of "encourage each other".
Fashion report
Lots of well-dressed folks this time around. Vests, coats, and beautiful dresses abounded. A few were even color-coordinated. There was a groom in the top half of a suit whose bride was wearing what looked like the suit trousers. Per the title of Miss Janet's blog, let's not speculate about what that means.
By the numbers
Ceremonies: 16
Formal wear (suit/dress): 6
Recruited witness from other couple in lobby: 1 (3 counting New Year's Eve)
Crowd larger than 30: 1
"As long as I will": 1
New Year's Eve at the Marriage Factory was surprisingly tame in the wake of Monday and Tuesday's 30 weddings apiece . Imagine my surprise when Friday was busier than ever! My average is 8-10 weddings; this week, I did 16.
The largest group was about 35 people - 2 elevators' worth. Once they arrived, everything went fine, although the groom went with "I will be true to you as long as I will", not "as long as I live". Usually when the bride catches that, she is not happy.
There were 2 or 3 nervous brides. One swiveled back and forth during the vows, making me almost say "Grow gently with each other and do the twist" instead of "encourage each other".
Fashion report
Lots of well-dressed folks this time around. Vests, coats, and beautiful dresses abounded. A few were even color-coordinated. There was a groom in the top half of a suit whose bride was wearing what looked like the suit trousers. Per the title of Miss Janet's blog, let's not speculate about what that means.
By the numbers
Ceremonies: 16
Formal wear (suit/dress): 6
Recruited witness from other couple in lobby: 1 (3 counting New Year's Eve)
Crowd larger than 30: 1
"As long as I will": 1
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
A Runner's Job Is Never Done
Original post date: October 3, 2014
Miss Janet has often referred to the Hall of Records as the Marriage Factory - hence, the title of this blog. That's mostly a joke about the way you enter as two people and exit joined as one couple. Sometimes, though, the analogy is closer than might seem appropriate. A couple weeks ago, I got to the Hall shortly before 9AM on Friday and there was a couple waiting to be married. From that time until I left at 12:30, the desk was never free of licenses.
The clerks and I asked each other: why today? There didn't seem to be a numerological reason, no 8/8/08 or 11/12/13. It was busy because it was busy. By 10:30, it was time to engage a runner.
When an officiant finishes a wedding, it can take 10-15 minutes to get the next wedding ready: leave the wedding room, wait for an elevator, run to the desk, grab and examine the next license, call and assemble the entire wedding party, wait for another elevator, and get the party into the wedding room.
A runner is a staff member who gathers the paperwork and the wedding party and brings them upstairs to the wedding room. A good runner can do all that while another wedding is happening, saving enough time to squeeze in an extra ceremony per hour.
From 10:30 to 12:30, my runner was bringing up a new couple + guests every 7-10 minutes. I'd finish a ceremony and meet the couple in the waiting room. They reviewed the license while the previous couple waited for their certificate and took pictures. Once the new couple were ready, on we went with the wedding. Repeat as necessary. When the dust settled, we'd done 20 ceremonies in 3 1/2 hours.
Noted among them:
Not 1, not 2, but 3 male same-sex couples who dressed alike (or at least very similarly) to get married. In 2 of the cases, the only way to tell the outfits apart was by the tie. That kind of synchronization is very unusual in other weddings. Sure, there's color co-ordination - the groom's pocket square matches the bride's slip color - but the twinsies look seems exclusive to the male-male couples.
After a particularly joyous opposite-sex wedding, the guests formed a prayer circle. Though I am not permitted to join any form of worship, the worship itself is certainly allowed. This one was serious, with praising and "Amen"s bouncing off the walls. There was also talk of the wife's duty to surrender to her husband, as adherents surrender to the church. Not how I feel, but the couple seemed fine with it. I hope their faith and joy last throughout their marriage, although I wouldn't press too hard on the "obey" part if I were him.
Miss Janet has often referred to the Hall of Records as the Marriage Factory - hence, the title of this blog. That's mostly a joke about the way you enter as two people and exit joined as one couple. Sometimes, though, the analogy is closer than might seem appropriate. A couple weeks ago, I got to the Hall shortly before 9AM on Friday and there was a couple waiting to be married. From that time until I left at 12:30, the desk was never free of licenses.
The clerks and I asked each other: why today? There didn't seem to be a numerological reason, no 8/8/08 or 11/12/13. It was busy because it was busy. By 10:30, it was time to engage a runner.
When an officiant finishes a wedding, it can take 10-15 minutes to get the next wedding ready: leave the wedding room, wait for an elevator, run to the desk, grab and examine the next license, call and assemble the entire wedding party, wait for another elevator, and get the party into the wedding room.
A runner is a staff member who gathers the paperwork and the wedding party and brings them upstairs to the wedding room. A good runner can do all that while another wedding is happening, saving enough time to squeeze in an extra ceremony per hour.
From 10:30 to 12:30, my runner was bringing up a new couple + guests every 7-10 minutes. I'd finish a ceremony and meet the couple in the waiting room. They reviewed the license while the previous couple waited for their certificate and took pictures. Once the new couple were ready, on we went with the wedding. Repeat as necessary. When the dust settled, we'd done 20 ceremonies in 3 1/2 hours.
Noted among them:
Not 1, not 2, but 3 male same-sex couples who dressed alike (or at least very similarly) to get married. In 2 of the cases, the only way to tell the outfits apart was by the tie. That kind of synchronization is very unusual in other weddings. Sure, there's color co-ordination - the groom's pocket square matches the bride's slip color - but the twinsies look seems exclusive to the male-male couples.
After a particularly joyous opposite-sex wedding, the guests formed a prayer circle. Though I am not permitted to join any form of worship, the worship itself is certainly allowed. This one was serious, with praising and "Amen"s bouncing off the walls. There was also talk of the wife's duty to surrender to her husband, as adherents surrender to the church. Not how I feel, but the couple seemed fine with it. I hope their faith and joy last throughout their marriage, although I wouldn't press too hard on the "obey" part if I were him.
Le Deluge
Original post date: September 8, 2013
It's been a long time since I've written. A lot has happened. I'll hit the highlights.
The week after same-sex marriage was legalized (or de-de-legalized), the marriage factory was empty. I did maybe 8 ceremonies. The next week, I did 30 in 4 1/2 hours. Le deluge, indeed. The couples were all grateful, and almost all sweet. Standouts include the men who had matching bow ties. I was wearing one as well, purchased for the occasion by my wife from Jessie Tyler Ferguson's marriage-equality-supporting company, tietheknot.org.
After the initial rush (20 ceremonies the next week, 18 the week after that), things calmed down, as I knew they would. The average is 12-15 ceremonies, with the volume picking up toward midday. The summer has been busier, so I wasn't surprised to read that Miss Janet kept busy when she filled in for me.
Last week's couples were almost all dressed for the occasion, from those with one witness to a crew of 20 or more. It wasn't until the end of my shift that I got a t-shirt & jeans couple. Trumping all comers were a group from an African country. Each woman in the crowd wore a different color. They posed for pictures in the lobby, and it looked like a rainbow - so beautiful! I also had two couples with English grooms. That accent! No wonder their spouses fell for them.
This week, there was an early wedding with a problem that pops up every once in a while: the member of the couple who does not speak English. No worries for me if his/her language is Spanish - I do Spanish ceremonies every week. This time, he spoke French. My wife's French is good, but mine is non-existent. As usually happens in these cases, there was a witness who was translating most of what is going on. That person cannot translate the vows, however. The groom must agree to the marriage without prompting. The translator is only trying to help, but unfortunately, we must be rude and ask her to stop talking. Luckily in this case, the groom understood enough to tell me that he wanted to marry his bride, and everything else went off without a hitch. I used Google Translate to learn how to ask the necessary question: Voulez vous epouser BRIDE'S NAME? Now I am prepared - unless the couple speaks German. Then I'm out of luck.
It's been a long time since I've written. A lot has happened. I'll hit the highlights.
The week after same-sex marriage was legalized (or de-de-legalized), the marriage factory was empty. I did maybe 8 ceremonies. The next week, I did 30 in 4 1/2 hours. Le deluge, indeed. The couples were all grateful, and almost all sweet. Standouts include the men who had matching bow ties. I was wearing one as well, purchased for the occasion by my wife from Jessie Tyler Ferguson's marriage-equality-supporting company, tietheknot.org.
After the initial rush (20 ceremonies the next week, 18 the week after that), things calmed down, as I knew they would. The average is 12-15 ceremonies, with the volume picking up toward midday. The summer has been busier, so I wasn't surprised to read that Miss Janet kept busy when she filled in for me.
Last week's couples were almost all dressed for the occasion, from those with one witness to a crew of 20 or more. It wasn't until the end of my shift that I got a t-shirt & jeans couple. Trumping all comers were a group from an African country. Each woman in the crowd wore a different color. They posed for pictures in the lobby, and it looked like a rainbow - so beautiful! I also had two couples with English grooms. That accent! No wonder their spouses fell for them.
This week, there was an early wedding with a problem that pops up every once in a while: the member of the couple who does not speak English. No worries for me if his/her language is Spanish - I do Spanish ceremonies every week. This time, he spoke French. My wife's French is good, but mine is non-existent. As usually happens in these cases, there was a witness who was translating most of what is going on. That person cannot translate the vows, however. The groom must agree to the marriage without prompting. The translator is only trying to help, but unfortunately, we must be rude and ask her to stop talking. Luckily in this case, the groom understood enough to tell me that he wanted to marry his bride, and everything else went off without a hitch. I used Google Translate to learn how to ask the necessary question: Voulez vous epouser BRIDE'S NAME? Now I am prepared - unless the couple speaks German. Then I'm out of luck.
The Lightning Round
Original post date: February 28, 2013
Fridays at the Marriage Factory usually get busy toward noon, just as I'm ready to duck out the door and join friends for lunch. Sometimes that rush is mild and other times, well...
Two Fridays ago was the day after Valentine's Day and the day before a 3-day weekend. The first 90 minutes were not unusual, even a bit slow. Then more couples started arriving. And more after them. By 11:20, I had 5 licenses on my desk, and several in the queue. Luckily, the second wedding room was still decorated, so Clerk C offered to bring the couples up to me, and I'd marry 'em one after the other, switching rooms as needed. We got through 9 couples in about an hour that way, with each bride and groom still getting a very nice ceremony.
Last Friday was back to normal. Five or six couples, with a few more hitting our doors about noon, including one in a formal wedding gown. My relief arrived at 12:30, and I was out the door, so I never got to see how that one panned out. As Miss Janet says, we have no endings.
The two dresses of note over the last two weeks were turquoise. The first week's dress was a floor-length sleeveless maternity dress worn by a bride almost ready to give birth. She looked lovely, perhaps even glowing. By contrast, Week 2's dress was a traditional Chinese Muslim wedding dress, very ornately embroidered, with a head covering, also lovely.
Fridays at the Marriage Factory usually get busy toward noon, just as I'm ready to duck out the door and join friends for lunch. Sometimes that rush is mild and other times, well...
Two Fridays ago was the day after Valentine's Day and the day before a 3-day weekend. The first 90 minutes were not unusual, even a bit slow. Then more couples started arriving. And more after them. By 11:20, I had 5 licenses on my desk, and several in the queue. Luckily, the second wedding room was still decorated, so Clerk C offered to bring the couples up to me, and I'd marry 'em one after the other, switching rooms as needed. We got through 9 couples in about an hour that way, with each bride and groom still getting a very nice ceremony.
Last Friday was back to normal. Five or six couples, with a few more hitting our doors about noon, including one in a formal wedding gown. My relief arrived at 12:30, and I was out the door, so I never got to see how that one panned out. As Miss Janet says, we have no endings.
The two dresses of note over the last two weeks were turquoise. The first week's dress was a floor-length sleeveless maternity dress worn by a bride almost ready to give birth. She looked lovely, perhaps even glowing. By contrast, Week 2's dress was a traditional Chinese Muslim wedding dress, very ornately embroidered, with a head covering, also lovely.
No Time To Rest
Original post date: January 19, 2013
Unlike Miss Janet, I barely had time to sit and read the paper today. The Hall is closed on Monday. Perhaps that is why so many couples chose today to get married - 15 in all, and 3 more to be done after I left! To top it all off, the clerks were shorthanded thanks to the megaflu, yet they still managed to keep bringing me ceremonies. My desk was like the room in The Sorcerer's Apprentice - I'd have 5 weddings to do, get done one, and still had 5 weddings left. They were multiplying!
There were examples of just about every kind of wedding: "just doing the paperwork", "we came in to get the license and thought what the heck and have the coffee stand attendant as a witness", several "we're having a baby", and a couple all-out shows.
Standouts include the couple who had been dating 2 weeks (the groom made it clear they had been close friends for a long time – wonder what flipped the switch?), the bride who held the couple's sleeping daughter throughout the ceremony (I normally ask the couple to join hands - the groom gently took hers without my prompting) the little girl woke up in time for the pictures, the bride who smiled and cheered and did a little dance after the pronouncement ( I love a happy bride), and the pregnant bride who chewed gum all the way through the wedding. I'd be cross except I bet it's to fight nausea, so she has my sympathies.
For some reason, at least 4 brides had turquoise necklaces. As far as I can tell, garnet is January's stone, so go figure. Beautiful dresses all day long, including a few standard wedding-type dresses in shades of white and off-white, with and without adornment. A few noteworthy ones: a lilac full-length prom-type dress with a lacy corset, a red & black Japanese-patterned maternity wrap, and a gorgeous black and white sheath with ruching on the front.
I hope some of this bounty of brides spills over to Miss Janet's next shift, and I also hope all the sick little clerks are feeling better when I get back next week!
Unlike Miss Janet, I barely had time to sit and read the paper today. The Hall is closed on Monday. Perhaps that is why so many couples chose today to get married - 15 in all, and 3 more to be done after I left! To top it all off, the clerks were shorthanded thanks to the megaflu, yet they still managed to keep bringing me ceremonies. My desk was like the room in The Sorcerer's Apprentice - I'd have 5 weddings to do, get done one, and still had 5 weddings left. They were multiplying!
There were examples of just about every kind of wedding: "just doing the paperwork", "we came in to get the license and thought what the heck and have the coffee stand attendant as a witness", several "we're having a baby", and a couple all-out shows.
Standouts include the couple who had been dating 2 weeks (the groom made it clear they had been close friends for a long time – wonder what flipped the switch?), the bride who held the couple's sleeping daughter throughout the ceremony (I normally ask the couple to join hands - the groom gently took hers without my prompting) the little girl woke up in time for the pictures, the bride who smiled and cheered and did a little dance after the pronouncement ( I love a happy bride), and the pregnant bride who chewed gum all the way through the wedding. I'd be cross except I bet it's to fight nausea, so she has my sympathies.
For some reason, at least 4 brides had turquoise necklaces. As far as I can tell, garnet is January's stone, so go figure. Beautiful dresses all day long, including a few standard wedding-type dresses in shades of white and off-white, with and without adornment. A few noteworthy ones: a lilac full-length prom-type dress with a lacy corset, a red & black Japanese-patterned maternity wrap, and a gorgeous black and white sheath with ruching on the front.
I hope some of this bounty of brides spills over to Miss Janet's next shift, and I also hope all the sick little clerks are feeling better when I get back next week!
A Language Kerfuffle
Original post date: January 7, 2013
The holidays have been a period of much activity, not least at the Marriage Factory. Here's a rundown of the last three weeks.
The day before the weekend before Christmas Eve was surprisingly busy, with almost 10 weddings (that means 9), a couple of whom even mentioned the predicted end of the world. Several of the couples had kids, none cuter than the little one who held her mother's bouquet in front of her and said, "I'm a bush!" One of the grooms, taking me for a judge, asked me how I came to marry people. I explained how to become a deputy marriage commissioner, and he seemed interested. Even with Miss J back, we still need all the help we can get.
The cutest couple were a pair of "hipsters" - piercings, ear gauging, the whole lot. She wore a short ecru dress with a blue petticoat that matched his tie.
New Year's Eve Eve Eve Eve Day was slower. Images: a babe-in-arms, slowly pulling petals out of her mother's bouquet, examining them, and dropping them on the floor. A bride in a raincoat and boots who removed the coat to reveal a beautiful red wedding dress with a tutu-like skirt. A wad of gum on the underside of the podium. (Gross) Incidents like that reassure me that I'm not getting baselessly crankier as I'm getting older. Sometimes, that crankiness is warranted.
This Friday started with a kerfuffle over foreign language ceremonies. I'm qualified to do weddings in Spanish & English. We have staff who can do weddings in Cantonese, Lao, Vietnamese, and Mandarin. A couple had a Mandarin wedding scheduled, but the person who does them hadwork to attend to, so I took up another couple for an English ceremony.
As I was talking to the upstairs clerk about the first couple, my couple overhears and decides they want a Mandarin ceremony too. 2 problems: 1) I'd already printed my name on the license; normally, the clerk could just reprint it, but 2) the license is from San Francisco. Solution from the HoR geniuses: I did the absolute necessities (what I call "Do you/Do you/Power vested in me"), thus marrying the couple, and the Mandarin-speaking clerk did the full ceremony. Everyone was happy, and no reprinting was necessary.
The rest of the day was busy but less complicated. Lots of beautiful dresses, including a floor-length white gown, a tea-length white dress with lace side panels, a mini with snow boots, and a "little black dress" in orange. The snow boots couple had recently lost their dog, and so had his/her tags wrapped around the stems of the bouquet. They are forever awesome for doing that.
Most season-appropriate apparel:
The bride & groom in matching 49ers jerseys. Go Niners!
The holidays have been a period of much activity, not least at the Marriage Factory. Here's a rundown of the last three weeks.
The day before the weekend before Christmas Eve was surprisingly busy, with almost 10 weddings (that means 9), a couple of whom even mentioned the predicted end of the world. Several of the couples had kids, none cuter than the little one who held her mother's bouquet in front of her and said, "I'm a bush!" One of the grooms, taking me for a judge, asked me how I came to marry people. I explained how to become a deputy marriage commissioner, and he seemed interested. Even with Miss J back, we still need all the help we can get.
The cutest couple were a pair of "hipsters" - piercings, ear gauging, the whole lot. She wore a short ecru dress with a blue petticoat that matched his tie.
New Year's Eve Eve Eve Eve Day was slower. Images: a babe-in-arms, slowly pulling petals out of her mother's bouquet, examining them, and dropping them on the floor. A bride in a raincoat and boots who removed the coat to reveal a beautiful red wedding dress with a tutu-like skirt. A wad of gum on the underside of the podium. (Gross) Incidents like that reassure me that I'm not getting baselessly crankier as I'm getting older. Sometimes, that crankiness is warranted.
This Friday started with a kerfuffle over foreign language ceremonies. I'm qualified to do weddings in Spanish & English. We have staff who can do weddings in Cantonese, Lao, Vietnamese, and Mandarin. A couple had a Mandarin wedding scheduled, but the person who does them hadwork to attend to, so I took up another couple for an English ceremony.
As I was talking to the upstairs clerk about the first couple, my couple overhears and decides they want a Mandarin ceremony too. 2 problems: 1) I'd already printed my name on the license; normally, the clerk could just reprint it, but 2) the license is from San Francisco. Solution from the HoR geniuses: I did the absolute necessities (what I call "Do you/Do you/Power vested in me"), thus marrying the couple, and the Mandarin-speaking clerk did the full ceremony. Everyone was happy, and no reprinting was necessary.
The rest of the day was busy but less complicated. Lots of beautiful dresses, including a floor-length white gown, a tea-length white dress with lace side panels, a mini with snow boots, and a "little black dress" in orange. The snow boots couple had recently lost their dog, and so had his/her tags wrapped around the stems of the bouquet. They are forever awesome for doing that.
Most season-appropriate apparel:
The bride & groom in matching 49ers jerseys. Go Niners!
The Force Is Strong With This One
Original post date: August 7, 2012
This week was another busy one at the marriage factory. Miss Janet already described the media swarm that engulfed our little office a couple weeks ago.
The only anecdote I can add is the couple who had attended the same high school years ago. The bride had asked the groom to the prom and he had declined. To make matters better/worse, he did not remember that until a friend of the soon-to-be bride brought it to his attention - after the couple had started dating for a while. Luckily, the bride had a good sense of humor, and the groom certainly seemed to regret his earlier decision.
There was a couple with a large party waiting when the doors opened. I hadn't arrived; luckily, we have an enthusiastic intern who loves doing weddings. From then on, the couples kept coming.
Some highlights:
The couple was in their 60s and their ceremony was in Spanish. They were so in love they began kissing before the vows were done. No worries about those two.
The bride and groom were 30 years apart in age. He was dapper in a pin-stripe suit and she lovely in a purple dress. She was trembling throughout the ceremony, and couldn't wait to hug her new husband.
Since Miss Janet occasionally focuses on fashion, I will do the same. The bride wore a STAR WARS T-shirt pattern on a mini dress, even though she was born after RETURN OF THE JEDI came out. No one mentioned it. She also had a flower in her hair. Coolest thing ever.
This week was another busy one at the marriage factory. Miss Janet already described the media swarm that engulfed our little office a couple weeks ago.
The only anecdote I can add is the couple who had attended the same high school years ago. The bride had asked the groom to the prom and he had declined. To make matters better/worse, he did not remember that until a friend of the soon-to-be bride brought it to his attention - after the couple had started dating for a while. Luckily, the bride had a good sense of humor, and the groom certainly seemed to regret his earlier decision.
There was a couple with a large party waiting when the doors opened. I hadn't arrived; luckily, we have an enthusiastic intern who loves doing weddings. From then on, the couples kept coming.
Some highlights:
The couple was in their 60s and their ceremony was in Spanish. They were so in love they began kissing before the vows were done. No worries about those two.
The bride and groom were 30 years apart in age. He was dapper in a pin-stripe suit and she lovely in a purple dress. She was trembling throughout the ceremony, and couldn't wait to hug her new husband.
Since Miss Janet occasionally focuses on fashion, I will do the same. The bride wore a STAR WARS T-shirt pattern on a mini dress, even though she was born after RETURN OF THE JEDI came out. No one mentioned it. She also had a flower in her hair. Coolest thing ever.
The Whirlwind
Original post date: July 26, 2012
My shifts at the marriage factory have been slow lately, averaging 5 or 6 couples. Today, things were a bit busier. I married 15 couples in 3 1/2 hours. That's one couple every 14 minutes. For the entire time I had at least one couple waiting to be married.
In such a whirlwind, a few stood out:
The couple who held their 2-month-old as they said the vows. The mom/bride was so happy she grinned ear to ear the entire time. The dad/groom looked shellshocked, but relieved after the ceremony.
The couple whose toddler would not stop running around the wedding room, pulling on everything. I rarely stop a ceremony, but I did twice to try to stop the kid. No dice.
The couple who were obviously completely in love with each other and with getting married. He was wearing a suit with a boutonniere and she had a simple lace dress and wrist corsage. I don't get choked up often, but that one had me smiling very broadly.
The couple whose guest was just a minute away from joining them - for 15 minutes.
Lovely clothes, bridal division:
My shifts at the marriage factory have been slow lately, averaging 5 or 6 couples. Today, things were a bit busier. I married 15 couples in 3 1/2 hours. That's one couple every 14 minutes. For the entire time I had at least one couple waiting to be married.
In such a whirlwind, a few stood out:
The couple who held their 2-month-old as they said the vows. The mom/bride was so happy she grinned ear to ear the entire time. The dad/groom looked shellshocked, but relieved after the ceremony.
The couple whose toddler would not stop running around the wedding room, pulling on everything. I rarely stop a ceremony, but I did twice to try to stop the kid. No dice.
The couple who were obviously completely in love with each other and with getting married. He was wearing a suit with a boutonniere and she had a simple lace dress and wrist corsage. I don't get choked up often, but that one had me smiling very broadly.
The couple whose guest was just a minute away from joining them - for 15 minutes.
Lovely clothes, bridal division:
- Black-and-white checked minidress with black heels and a canary yellow cardigan
- 2 floor-length shoulderless gowns, one floral with a beaded neckpiece and one red and scalloped
- Turquoise Chanel-inspired suit
- A few lace dresses, all perfectly appropriate
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