In Eckleburg's Eyes - 10/28/2008, Part 2

On Monday at approximately 5:45 pm, I officiated the wedding ceremony of PCR and AND. We walked to the beach and started the wedding the very moment the bride and groom step foot on the beach. This was not my first outdoor wedding. This was not even my first wedding in the Palmetto State. This was, however, different from any wedding I have ever done. There was no aisle, no music, and frankly no planning to speak of. Though I would not do my wedding this way, it was great.

The wedding was conducted directly behind Sea Oats by the Grove on Cherry Grove Beach. The location was significant as PCR stayed at the nearby Hartford Motor Inn at least once a year for as long as he can remember. (The hotel will be demolished soon.) This was PCR’s fourth visit to Myrtle Beach this year.

The date was also significant. October 27th marked the anniversary of their first date. The high temperature in Myrtle Beach on this day was 68 degrees and 5:45 did not represent day’s high. With the wind blowing heavily, the bride’s grandmother admitted that she wished the couple had a met a few months earlier.

Ten people attended. That tally included the bride and groom. The party consisted of the couple, the bride’s father, step-mother, grandmother and brother, the groom’s parents, JTH and me. JTH was the photographer and I was the minister. (The photos of me in this post were taken by JTH who had my cell phone much of the day.) It was an honor to be a part of such an intimate event.

It was very strange not wearing a robe for the wedding. Of all people, I never dreamt that I would be affected by wearing casual attire at a typically formal event. My ensemble did have significance. I wore my Fantastic Four t-shirt at the bride’s request. She attaches special significance to the number four and as her MySpace URL suggests has four stars tattooed on her arm. I also wore a Quiksilver hoodie over it as PCR loves and sells the clothing brand.

I tailor each wedding to the couple’s specifications. On this day, that meant that the wedding was going to be done quickly. I made the ceremony as meaningful as possible given the time allotted. Since it was the new couple’s last name, I could not resist urge to preach the charge on Ruth. I used Ruth 1:17 as the Scriptural basis. It was the first time I have ever duplicated the Scripture for a wedding though I had not used this passage since my first wedding in 2003.

I met all of the couple’s requests and they seemed please. This was never more evident than when the post-wedding photos took longer than the ceremony itself. This was probably good as we had no permit to be there. It would not have mattered. The beach was dead.

The wedding was perfectly flawed. The groom’s father had no idea that he was in possession of his son’s titanium ring. (He thought they had just given him a random box. Seriously.) The bride stopped the wedding as I was pronouncing the couple husband and wife. It seems the lost ring threw me and though I had explained the significance of the rings, I had never explicitly had the couple exchange them. No one cared. The wedding was perfectly imperfect, as they all should be.

So from now on, the couple is PCR and ANDR.

The couple will have two receptions during over the weekend after hey return to Knoxville.

As for this day, they were off to celebrate. They invited JTH and myself back to their hotel room. I have done a lot of weddings and been close to a lot of the couples I have married. This was the first time I had been asked to spend the honeymoon night with the couple. On this night, it did not seem that irregular...