wordy Wednesday: wedding wisdom from Shakespeare

At my brother's wedding on Saturday, the bride and groom had several friends and family members do readings, which is pretty typical ceremony practice. But they also asked four of us (me, my husband, and two close high-school buddies of my brother's) to do something unusual: speak for about two minutes each about what marriage and commitment means from the perspective of our different disciplines (English and literature + philosophy for the two of us, science/medicine and business for his buddies). We didn't get any other direction than that -- oh, except my brother saying "Don't tell me what you're going to say, because I want to be surprised."

No pressure, right? It was a really tough assignment! But we managed to pull together something we were all pretty proud of -- and we were all feeling good about it at the rehearsal the night before. That is, until I found out that my little flower girl was terrified of the wedding venue!

It wasn't her fault, really. We were in an old converted factory with high ceilings and giant windows so it was really bright and really loud -- not to mention filled with people she didn't know who all wanted to touch her and get right in her face. She cried through most of the rehearsal and was very agitated and whiny during the first part of the service on Saturday afternoon. So when I got up to make my little speech all about what Shakespeare has to say about marriage, standing a mere three feet away from her, it was too much for her to handle, and the waterworks started.

Typical: stay-at-home mom who craves intellectual challenges finally gets the chance to do something that satisfies her old self but is thwarted by her clingy little baby. ;) Lorelei ended up on my hip, Jason held the microphone for me, and my speech turned into quite the family affair -- much to my chagrin, and the delight of most of the wedding guests.

a stolen-from-Facebook pic of our little comedy act

Considering the "take-away" message of my speech, it ended up being rather appropriate in the end after all. Interested in reading it? Click here.