Vegas baby!
Just before 4am yesterday, I returned from a trip to Las Vegas so that I could serve as best man in a wedding. I’m the type of guy that sometimes likes to burn the candle at both ends, but when that alarm went off at 5, I was thinking that maybe lighting the middle as well might not have been the smartest thing to do.
Despite the fatigue factor, I’m glad I went. Weddings may be an industry in Vegas, but these things are what you make of them. There were only 3 people in the wedding party (bride, groom, and myself) but the cermony was as moving as any I’ve seen and the sheer amount of energy in the room was incredible.
While we were having cake and champagne afterwards, the bride commented that she felt as if the wedding had 100 guests in attendance. Curiously enough, I had the same sensation.
Experiences like that help me maintain my faith in humanity. I am under the impression that many people treat marriage like a business transaction. They basically figure out what they want, and if the deal turns out not to be what one or both of them bargained for, they bail. Even if things turn out OK, people wind up feeling unfulfilled.
While I was talking with the bride and groom after the ceremony, all 3 of us agreed that we never would have done the most worthwhile things in our lives had we been told in advance what we’d have to go through to achieve them. The value comes from what people invest in the process, not in the end return.
It’s very possible that this marriage will also work out that way, but given the attitude of the bride and groom, I think they are doomed to succeed. I wish them the very best.