The wedding official wobbled ever so slightly as he removed his glasses and squinted at the note card in front of him. He wore a tie, but it was poorly knotted. One of his shirt tails stuck out, and his hair looked a tad unkempt.
"And do you Christian," he nodded at the groom. "Take you..." he trailed off, closed his eyes, and began to list to one side. A few people in the wedding party sucked in a breath. Someone even took a step towards the gentleman incase he fall. Then, just in the nick of time, a large hiccup emanated from his throat and pushed him upright again. Reoriented to the situation, he continued, "...Hubert," he nodded towards the bride, "to be your lawfully wedded wife."
Suzanne stood primly in the small backyard of her soon-to-be mother-in-law's home. She wore a short white aline dress with a hem that showed most of her thighs and a matching oversized bow adorned her hair. Suzanne wasn't sure she heard the officiant correctly, but if she was as perplexed as the rest of the small wedding party, she hid it well, clutching her bouquet of flowers tightly and keeping a placid smile on her face.
But the wedding official was certainly off.
The guests, just family and a handful of close friends had mixed reactions. Suzanne's younger brothers snickered from the back of the group. A few relatives gave each other sidelong looks. The groom fidgeted uncomfortably in his suit, but his grandmother didn't seem to notice anything was amiss.
An extended silence ensued, marked only by the chirping of a few birds, a car door slam down the street and a dog barking several houses away. The table cloth fluttered slightly in the breeze upon which sat the simple fare for the reception. Suzanne had never dreamed of a big wedding, and this casual June affair pleased her cheap father to no end.
Suzanne looked at Christian. He was handsome despite his thick glasses that made his farsighted eyes look huge. Her college friends were over the moon that a student doctor had given her a diamond ring. Nevermind that it was a family heirloom rumored to be cursed. Nevermind that he'd told her he wanted to be a university professor, not a doctor, and study science. She didn't care. She'd make due. She loved him. She also hated being the center of attention and wanted this to be over with.
Suzanne looked at Christian, waiting for his reply.
He gritted his teeth, studied the officiant to see if he would notice his error and correct it. But alas, it was now or never. And he loved Suzanne.
"I do," he mumbled.
A grin spread across the officiant's face. He looked at Suzanne and Christian with a look of sheer wonder and awe. Then he looked out at the guests, beaming.
"Then you may kiss the bride!" he shouted, lifting his hands to the heavens above.
And they did.
