We are well into the wedding season and over the last few weeks I have conducted quite a few wedding ceremonies- one reason for the recent shortage of blog posts. They have all been very enjoyable though all quite different from each other and all memorable in their own way.
Someone once asked me how many weddings I had conducted over the years, but I'm afraid I could only guess - as I have never kept an actual record. I imagine, however that it must be somewhere between 500 and 800, maybe even more. Almost all of the time the weddings I have conducted have taken place in a church, although there have been one or two notable exceptions. And yesterday, was one such exception.
The wedding took place in a castle not too far from here (although to qualify that last statement - the castle has its own little consecrated chapel see below)
But what made this particular wedding most memorable was not its location but the coming together of two very distinctive cultures - American and Chinese. I can just about speak American (but I confess only with a Tennessee accent derived from an American friend) but when it comes to Chinese I haven't a clue, so I was grateful for the assistance of an interpreter who was able to translate much of what I said into Mandarin. [At least I have to assume that he was translating what I said. He could have been saying anything!!]
For my "talk" to the happy couple I used a pair of chopsticks as an illustration.
The gist of what I said had to do with the fact that chopsticks must be used together if they are going to work. (Ever tried to pick up a grain of rice with just one? It's hard enough with two.)
They are made for each other - a pair. And yet each is free to move in its own direction. What makes them work together as a team is the hand that holds them.
I'm sure you can fill in the rest yourself...
There was an earlier bit about the Chinese words for chopsticks (which means something like "quick little fellows") sounding very similar to another Chinese word which means something like "soon son" i.e. 'may you soon have a son' but I won't go into all that.
At the reception afterwards we had the same mix of Eastern and Western cultures.
The thing I liked best is what you see in the photograph above. An apple on a string (ribbon) was held above the heads of the bride and groom and they had to simultaneously (without using their hands) take a bite from the apple. It required the same kind of co-operation that you need between two chopsticks to get the food into the mouth. It was also a lot of fun to watch. Probably even more fun to do!
However, it also reminded me of another story of a man and a woman sharing a piece of forbidden fruit... and all the trouble that caused... :-)
The photographer at yesterday's wedding was a young photo-journalist by the name of Beth Skabar. Check out her website to see some very interesting examples of her work.
