When we arrived there was nobody there! The service eventually started over an hour late! They had organised an enormous number of witnesses - 20 for the bride and 20 for the groom! All these cerimonally walked up the aisle, at the begining of the ceremony, ahead of the bride. When the bride was reaching the door I had this strange intuition that I had been given the incorrect name for the groom! I dived over to the table where the legal documents from the judge were for the registry and I was right! So I had to quickly correct my script on the side whilst the bride meandered up to the front and I managed to slip into place by the skin of my teeth with a smile and nobody was any the wiser!
Philip had prepared 3 songs for different moments in the service which with me normally lasts 45 minutes. However... when the third song time came, as the register was being signed, there was me, the couple and 40 witnesses to sign! A total of 43! This must be a world record! Of course this dragged on for yonks and I whispered to Philip to just keep singing! Bless his heart he even lost count of how many songs he sang!
At the end I declared them husband and wife and had to get them to repeat the kiss, as the first one was more like a peck (I don't admit pecks in a wedding ceremony!), and then I prayed the final blessing and we were done, dusted, sweaty but smiling!
Finally there was the photographs session with a family member yelling into a mike the different ones she wanted to line up with the couple. But everyone was happy like that so who cares? Then they called everyone to eat so Liz and I slipped out, leaving them a gift with their regional pastor, and we got home pretty exhausted and to bed at 12.30 am.
My day had started with a Skype meeting at 7am, for which I was up at 5.30 am, with the EAB Board of Trustees. It was a very good meeting. It was however a long day! Now I'm ready to preach tonight in the Patos church. Your prayers are always valued.
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