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Thursday, May 27, 2010

Officiating

So you know how I mentioned that our officiant peaced out? And then the church wouldn't call me back with a new one?

Well they did call me back with the name of a minister, and when I called him, he sounded super weird. I was not optimistic.

Last Sunday Ryan and I headed to the church to meet with him. I'm not skilled at keeping emotions off my face, and Ryan said when I shook his hand at first I looked like I was not having it. I need to work on that, that emotions on my face thing.

Anyway, we sat down and talked to him for over an hour.

He is awesome.

He is so weird, but he's like quirky, endearing, awkward weird. We like that weird. He went to a Unitarian Universalist seminary in Chicago and he worked as a UU pastor for 5 years. He stopped doing that to do what he does now; he's a hospice chaplain. Which totally got me, because it takes an unbelievable type of person to be able to do that every day. I was sold as soon as he said that, but the more he talked the more excited I got. When he outlined his religious views for us I wanted to jump up and down....I LOVE the UU church so much, there truly is room for absolutely everyone there. And he really wanted to get to know us, he asked us all about how we met and where we want to be in 5 years, how many kids we want, who pays the bills, etc etc. The pastor who was going to marry us before he peaced out treated our wedding like a job he had to do, but this pastor was so excited, he said that weddings provide a great balance to his day job.

This whole pastor switch up definitely turned out to be a blessing in disguise, and I am super enthused about our ceremony. Ryan and I are working on it this weekend, I'll keep you posted!

Are you excited about the church you're getting married in, or about your officiant? Have you had any seeming-disasters turn into fortunate circumstances?

10 comments:

  1. This guy sounds awesome. It seems like he is the perfect fit and balance and is super awesome!! Also, UU churches are so awesome - you're going to have an awesome ceremony :)

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  2. We're pretty pleased with the church where the ceremony is being held. The Reverend (I call her the Rev) is great, really flexible, and we've both enjoyed the pre-wedding meetings that we've had with her. I'm glad it worked out for you guys. :)

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  3. I’m glad it worked out! We were a little lukewarm about our church and officiant in the beginning, but we’ve really warmed up to him as we’ve gotten to know him. Now, we are so excited!

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  4. He sounds great! We aren't getting married in a church, or with a priest, but I'm excited about our officient (a family friend). I think it's really important the the person marrying you care about the couple and the wedding, which it sounds like your new priest does!

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  5. Oh that is awesome news!

    It is nice to feel like you aren't just a number to the person who is marrying you!

    Can't wait to read about the ceremony... I lve wedding ceremonies.

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  6. my father in law officiated our wedding in his church...it/he was amazing...I couldn't of asked for anything better!

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  7. That's such a great experience! I think from time to time we ALL need reminding not to judge people on appearances. :) We don't have a choice in our officiant (in the UK if you want a non-religious ceremony, you get the local registrar, whomever that may be), but I couldn't care less who's doing the talking, because I'm certain I won't be paying attention to anyone but my fiance anyway! We're more excited that everything is happening at Bletchley Park, which is hugely significant for history and computer geeks like us.

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  8. That's so exciting that you like him so much! Will make the experience even better.

    I have no poker face either. It's bad! Especially on Christmas day - Mr B's mum always gets me the worst gifts!

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  9. Our minister is UU and he is also totally awesome. He literally tells us, "if anybody tells you that you 'must' include something in your ceremony, you don't even have to ask me - just say, 'the minister says we can't do that'".

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Hearing from you all makes my day!