Bell-bottom jeans, halter tops, mini-skirts, velour jogging suits, parachute pants. Thankfully all of these trends move through like the winds pushing a storm through on a sunny afternoon. They come in with a lot of hoopla, and then move on out just as quickly.
Fashion has never really been my forte as those of you who know me can attest. I prefer comfort over looks. Because of this I don’t usually even become aware of trends until they’re almost gone.
I remember in my 8th grade home ec class, Mrs. Kinney told us that it was wiser and more cost effective when buying clothing to purchase classics instead of fads or trends. Looking back on it now, I realize by “classics” she might have meant something from the Victorian era.
But there is a trend that is starting to emerge in weddings today. There is less formality. The reason I’m aware of this is because a couple Paul knows asked HIM to officiate their wedding. I’ll be honest with you; my first thought was What is WRONG with them?
On April 10, 1993, twenty-nine years ago today, Paul and I got married. Looking back I can see the trends that were in vogue then. We incorporated them into our wedding because they were what you did even though they were not who we were. If I had it to do all over again, I would change a lot of things: the venue, the music, the formality. The most important thing though, I would not change for the world, and that is the groom.
For better or worse, he has my number. I have laughed every single day for over 30 years. You hear of people talking about growing OLD together; Paul and I have grown UP together. We have become the people we are side-by-side, holding hands, and encouraging each other. It hasn’t all been easy; we’ve both had some pretty hair-brained ideas. I truly thought the idea of Paul marrying people might just be the apex of this craziness. I went to the wedding to get a glimpse of this insane couple.
I haven't seen Paul that nervous in quite a while. Weddings are way outside his comfort zone. At one point, he joked with the audience that he was so nervous it felt like HE was getting married!!
In the spirit of anticipation, I wore low heels in case we had to run for our lives after the ceremony. I had set the bar fairly low!!! In the opening remarks there was laughter and joking and a true sense of a group of people cheering on this couple who was taking the plunge, and then the actual ceremony began for real.
Paul explained that for any relationship to work, but especially a marriage, there has to be humor. We can't take everything and especially ourselves so seriously all the time. He said, "My wife and I have been together for over 30 years, and I'm so happy that, as silly as it sounds, if I were a puppy, my tail would be wagging." And just like that, I felt the same way I did when we got married ourselves - which was probably longer ago than many of the guests had been alive!!!
