Picture this. . . The screen opens up to a lovely reception
hall. The camera pans across the room, bright silver centerpieces. . . delicious
wedding cake. . . laughing guests. . .
and after a few moments the camera rests upon the beautiful bride holding a delightful
bouquet of flowers. After a moment the
bride turns, counts to three and then tosses the bouquet. The camera follows it upwards, it arcs,
begins its decent into a crowd of reaching hands. One of the women, ever so slightly hip checks
another, and the bouquet is in her grasp, flowers rain over the crowd, her
triumphant yell can be heard in surround sound.
This my friends is the opening
scene of 27 Bouquets: Sequel to 27 Dresses!!
What do you think? Ok
so I’ve only caught 5 at this point, but I have at least two other weddings to
attend this year it shouldn’t take too long to get that number up a bit
more!! The thing I love about catching
bouquets is you get a guaranteed picture with the bride and a moment to talk to
her in the midst of all the reception craziness. It’s that simple. I don’t catch bouquets because I believe the
magical promise that whoever catches the bouquet will be the next to
marry. I catch them because I want a
picture with my friend, and I’m really good at catch!! Plus I can handle all
the bouquet catching jokes. My favorite
conversation last night after I caught my 5th bouquet was someone
saying “Hmmm maybe this means you’ll have 5 husbands.”
Last night I also discovered some women hate bouquet tosses
and either refuse to participate or stand as far as they possibly can from the
bouquet. Why do they hate it? Well because being single at a wedding can be
tough. It can conger up all those fears
of “Maybe I’ll never get to do this”, it can bring to mind all those hopes and
dreams of their own wedding that hasn’t happened yet. For some women the bouquet toss is a reminder
of their singleness, it puts a spotlight on that part of who they are, and it
can open the door for every married person in the place to say “You’ll be next”
with a wink of course.
I’ve struggled at times in my life with weddings and some of
those same fears and other fears of my own, however last night was not a
struggle at all. I was there to “Rejoice
with those who rejoice”, it was a wonderful time not only to see the beginning
of a family, but to spend time celebrating with good friends. I had a woman from the Bride’s family seek me
out to explain the cookies I made were just like the ones her Hungarian
Grandmother made and tell a few stories of how the cookies brought back
memories from her childhood. It was
delightful to meet someone new. I also got to use my pirate accent in
conversation, how often does the opportunity to use a pirate accent come up
when speaking with adults?
Weddings can be dangerous territory for single women, but
they don’t have to be. It is possible to
be in the midst of love and romance without being overcome by all those
destructive thoughts. Scripture would not
command us to rejoice with those who rejoice if it weren’t possible. When we can learn to shift our focus from our
own fears and worries, it opens the door to incredible joy for others, and even
opens up the possibility to dream of the future without rushing it, or being discontent
with where we are in life now. That mystery
of being able to hope and long for something while still being content in the
state we’re in right now is a great one.
It’s not easy to do, to live with desires for things that may never
come, but to willingly submit those desires over and over again to the Lord and
to trust that He will give what’s best.
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