Have you ever cried at a wedding? I mean really cried. Because you felt the hope that springs from honest love and joy. I have, but only once. It was when close friends of ours found out they were pregnant and decided to get married so she could keep her job at a Catholic school. Far from a shotgun wedding. Theirs was a decision made sooner rather than later. As we stood there in a strip mall cum courthouse in Mammoth Lakes, just me D. the judge and our friends, I was overwhelmed with the beauty and gravity of the decision to commit one’s life to another. There was no gown to worry about; no fretting over whether or not the florist or caterer or planner was able to execute every last detail perfectly; no timing concerns with the ceremony music, or the cake cutting, or the first dance. There was just the two of them and a solemn commitment to love and stay beside one another.
City hall weddings hold a special place in my heart. There is something so honest about weddings bold enough to peel back the layers of pomp and circumstance and focus solely on the love and the union of two people. I say this as a woman who bawled her eyes out as a witness that day in my friends city hall wedding but not at her own.
I love this video because it captures the intimacy, the solemness, and the sweet sweet joy of a simple wedding. And how about the San Francisco’s city hall? It’s simply out-of-this-world gorgeous! Nonetheless, think about the components of this wedding put together: the couple, and handful of close friends and family, a suit, a, gown, and a bouquet. Done.
