Flower Power

Last year in May I officiated at a wedding which was running late due to a sudden nasty storm that blew in at exactly the wrong moment. It took about forty-five minutes for the venue staff to move things indoors and for the DJ to dry off his equipment. Mostly everyone took it in stride, although I know it was a little bit stressful for the bride and groom. Overall, the wedding party was able to adjust to the changes easily enough.

Except for the flower girl. When it came time for her to walk down the much shorter aisle than what had been rehearsed outside, she carefully walked forward, took petals one at a time out of her basket and dropped them to the floor. When she arrived at the front of the room where the bridal party was assembled, she turned around and started back down the aisle, still carefully taking one petal at a time from her basket. She was half way to the back of the room when I realized what she was doing. She thought that her job would not be finished until she had emptied the basket completely of those rose petals. And, by golly, she was going to do just that! So when she got to the back of the room, she turned around again to head up the aisle. Well, by this time we were all grinning and giggling, and some of the guests started snapping photos of this very serious and conscientious flower girl. When she got to the front a second time, her mother intervened and the bride was finally able to make her long-awaited appearance.

This lovely young lady was just another reminder that when children are a part of a wedding ceremony, you should be ready for anything to happen! If you prefer that things be predictable or more formal, then you may want to think twice before including children in your wedding party. It can become way too stressful for both you and the child. But if you can go with the flow and are open to the surprises (and delights) that children in weddings can bring, then by all means include them in your ceremony!