In thirty years of playing at weddings I had a first tonight. Sixty-some minutes before the wedding, it surfaced that groom and bride had no wedding license. They thought the church provided that.
No, we do not.
Our city is not the county seat. The county seat is twenty miles away. I presume speed limits were pushed as bride and groom drove off and managed a return in time for 5:30 nuptials.
Many weddings have last minute surprises. The day before mine, fifteen inches of snow was dropped on our city. Our maid of honor came earlier in the week to help blend my wife’s possessions into my old, then our apartment. That was good. Friday night before the wedding, Nancy and I were kicking back, watching hockey on ESPN, rehearsal dinner cancelled (the best man and his wife had a frozen transmission in rural Illinois somewhere).
By the day of the wedding, somebody in the apartment complex had a stalled car in the driveway, with snow drifted over it. Nobody was getting in or out in a motor vehicle. Sponsor couple to the rescue. Bob had a 4WD truck for rural pharmacy deliveries. We waded through snow, wedding clothes in bags, but we did remember the license.
The parish staff got another wedding story out of this one. But I also felt for the couple. While I was setting up my music and helping the cantor, I prayed for them. I hope the second day of their marriage rolls more smoothly than the first.
Catholic Sensibility 