This was the first wedding I officiated where I didn't know the couple at all. I was a bit nervous at first, for that very reason – how do you curate such a personal experience for people you’ve never even met? Luckily, these guys made it easy. When you’re together for 19 years, you know what you’ve got. You know why you’ve held on for so long, and why you plan on holding on for 19 more years, and 19 more after that. And yet, during our first meeting together, there were so many moments when they both seemed flush with the memory of their first meeting, the embarrassment of sharing it with me assuaged by the tightening clasp of their hands. The meeting went great, and I left feeling exhilarated, and grateful for the opportunity they afforded me.
Their wedding was as intimate as it gets. The light shining through the window of their first and only home together, friends and family gathered around them. I spoke, they spoke, I pronounced, they kissed. And I knew, right then – I had to keep doing this.
