last (5 minute friday)

Joining with the writing flash mob that is Five Minute Friday at the home of the lovely Lisa Jo Baker. #FMFparty

Five minutes on last

One of the perks of being a clergy family especially when working in a small church is that wedding invites tend to come around quite frequently.  And the opportunity to share each part of the a happy couple’s day.

This perk has something of a double edge when it comes to the seating plan for the wedding breakfast because the clergy family are usually quite far removed in the pecking order from immediate family. Sometimes you are planned to be sat beside the people that the family are never quite sure who to put them next to (and yes I own up here, sorry Rev Pete that’s what we did at our wedding to you and your lovely wife.)

This was another one such wedding. We were seated on the periphery of the plan with our youngish children. Whilst waiting (as you do at weddings in general) our kids had cleaned out the favour bags  and were getting high on e-numbers.

The buffet had been organised by an Auntie who was enthusiastic but had little catering knowledge.  So most of the food was snarfed by strapping young men at the front of the queue, close relatives of the groom and you’ve guessed it, by the time the last got to the table there were essentially crumbs left. The bride was truly mortified for a while...

But that said, it made it a memorable day for different reasons and as if the tale of the reception itself were not enough, one of the children had to vomit in a hurry on the way home in the car (pay back for super speedy ingestion of sugar earlier.) The nearest vessel to hand was the box that had earlier carried the bridal party’s corsages (yep clergy tidy up after wedding services too!)

Thankfully real Grace comes in equal measure no matter where we are in the queue.