Friday Shuffle - Bride and Groom Edition

I went to a wedding this morning. Some friends of ours who have lived together for about ten years decided that they'd take the plunge. They have a seven year old son, Mark, and since next week he'll start first grade they decided that it would be a good idea for Mama and Papa to be married and everyone all share the same last name - up until now Mark had his mother's last name.

My MIL went with me and we got to the marriage bureau where the required civil ceremonies are held shortly before it was time for their scheduled ceremony to begin. The bride wore a cream colored pantsuit and the groom wore...well, he had on jeans and sneakers but you gotta know Ingo. He's the most laid-back person on the planet. I mean he wore shorts to my wedding reception and at the time we all commented "Wow! He dressed up! No holes in his shorts!".

We all went into one of the rooms where the ceremonies are held, took our seats, listened to the canned romantic music and waited for the marriage celebrant to begin. I'd like to say that in Germany you're married by a judge or something but it's just a bureaucrat. She began the ceremony, Ingo, Tina and Mark sitting together up front listening to how significant it was that they were legally joining together their little family, and it wasn't long before I was remembering my own wedding ceremony that had been held in the very same room. And it wasn't long after that when my eyes began to well up. There wasn't a dry eye in the room actually.

The image and significance of marriage has changed over the decades. I grew up at a time when it was still fairly rare that couples would live together without marrying first and even more rare that they would have kids but now it's so common that it barely raises an eyebrow. There are people that feel that they don't need marriage to have a legitimate relationship and there was a time when Ingo and Tina were felt the same. Even after their son was born, they didn't feel any burning need to marry and it wasn't until it was time for Mark to enter school that they decided to marry. That event has prompted them to marry because they want to show to the world that they are a single family. It's not Ingo with one last name and Tina and Mark with another last name - from now on it's going to be all three sharing the same family name. Sharing that name is their way of showing their bond.

I have to admit that while I don't object to unmarried people living together, I'm a bit of a sucker for marriage. There's something about it that's special. Yeah, technically it's a formality - a piece of paper - but in reality it's more than that. It's two people saying to all the world that they are committed to one another. That they believe in their relationship so much that they wish to be legally bound to one another. There's that leap of faith that couples take when they decide to marry and I admire those who take leaps of faith.

As the ceremony was winding down the marriage celebrant was saying how they would all have the same last name now and she said to Mark "Are you happy that now you'll be Mark Bunk?". Mark took a second to think and then said "No! Schräder sounds better than Bunk!".

We tried later to convince him that he'll soon appreciate having the last name of Bunk since it'll be less writing and he'll have to spell it for others a lot less. I think he bought it but then again at that moment he was pretty into throwing rice around on everyone. He really liked the rice part.

So let's shuffle for the happy bride and groom. Rice throwing optional.

1. Pressing Lips - Pursuit of Happiness
2. Stardust - Glenn Miller Orchestra
3. Wind In The Willows - Blackmore's Night
4. Somebody To Love - Queen
   
5. To Be With You - The Mavericks
6. Kiss - Dean Martin
7. Stand By Me - John Lennon
8. Mull of Kintyre - Paul McCartney
9. Never My Love - The Association
10. ('Til) I Kissed You - Everly Brothers
    

Evidently the shuffle is a sucker for a wedding too.

Have a love filled weekend.