Our Officiant!

Finding an Officiant for the wedding was turning into a headache. Neither one of us belong to a parish and Catholic priests won't perform ceremonies outside of the church. More importantly, I did not want a church wedding. Honestly, I think they are kind of boring and who wants to be bored at their own wedding? Not me. Also, we had already paid a deposit for the Botanical Gardens and I was set on getting married there.

My brother Mark was married by their friend Earl who was ordained by the Universal Life Church. For my bridesmaid Tonya's wedding their friend Boggs got ordained through the same organization. This was sounding like and ideal solution to the most important part of our wedding day. Now the biggest decision was who would be the best person for this special task.

From the time I learned to read, my sister Mary was always handing me things she had written to critique. My favorite was when she started writing a story about a group of four friends on the Oregon Trail. We became obsessed with that period of history for a few years. Then we discovered romance novels and to this day we still trade books and authors that we love! She is so eloquent with words and I have always admired her ability to put them onto paper in ways I had never imagined. More importantly, she has been my closest friend for my entire life. She has been there through ALL my ups and downs.

I remember when I got back from U of M's orientation and ran to Mary telling her all about this hot guy I met. She listened me to talk about every detail ten times a day for the next 9 or so years! Mary has been supportive of me and my feelings and practically experienced mine and Dave's relationship in real time! She was the obvious choice to officiant our marriage. Not only does she know us, but she knows the words that will unify us in marriage. I couldn't be more thrilled to have my sister standing up with me and Dave while she tells the world that we are husband and wife.

Go Mary!