Saturday night, Daniel and I went to his friend Rhett’s wedding to Stacey, two people I’ve only known a short while and haven’t had many opportunities to get to know terribly well. It was a gorgeous wedding held at an asian art museum in downtown Dallas. Stacey looked stunning, Rhett cleaned up very nicely, Daniel sported a suit AND tie (however uncomfortable he might have been, the payoff was his looking dashing all night long), and the ceremony was very well written and delivered.
I’ve been to a few weddings over the years, but the last two I’ve attended I’ve had the distinction of being maid of honor, so this was the first time in a long time I was able to attend as a guest and really absorb the nuances of the wedding. (As anyone who has done tours of duty as maid of honor knows, you don’t get to sit back and relax nearly as much, especially since most maid of honor dresses aren’t exactly what I’d call comfortable.)
It was nice, but I will admit there was a bit of melancholy to the evening as well. It’s different when you’re standing up with the bride and groom and giving your tacit blessing … especially in the case of my second tour as maid of honor, when the two gettin’ hitched were such good friends and people who I’d worked very hard to shove onto one another. When you have the luxury of sitting back and listening to the ceremony without fussing over bouquets or dress trains, you realize how precious and how rare true, engulfing love really is, and you (well, I) can’t help but wonder if that kind of love lies ahead for you. The kind that, as the minister said to Rhett, recognizes that, to a woman, the small things ARE the big things, and that inspires both people in the couple to say “I love you” at least once every day, never to go to bed angry, and put the other person’s happiness above your own. I’ve thought I’d found that kind of love before, and maybe I have found it now, but I’ve never been ready to stand up and say, “Yes, I will do that.” Perhaps in contrast to other times in my life, and in spite of the sorts of doubts that are inevitable when you’ve been hurt in love before, I do have faith that I will get there someday. I do believe I’m on my way. I do hope we’re on our way.
In the meantime, I’m immensely happy for Rhett and Stacey. As a couple, they were simply glowing Saturday night, and I look forward to seeing their relationship blossom even further as they move forward as husband and wife.