What NOT To Say At A Wedding

I arrived at the church two hours before the wedding was to start. This was two and a half weeks ago.

I was in the sanctuary taking some practice photos and seeing what decorations had been put into place for the wedding.

I was also getting a feel for how I needed to adjust the output of my flash for different situations.

At the same time, a young man was there practicing "The Wedding Song" that has been a staple at weddings for 30 years or so. (It was also sung at Lovely Wife's and my wedding in 1984.)

He was up there so that he could adjust the guitar and mixing board for any feedback the acoustic-electric guitar might cause, and prevent it happening during his performance.

The picking style on the guitar in that song is pretty intricate too, and he was going over and over both the picking on the guitar and singing the lyrics so that he would be perfect during the ceremony.

At one point, he and I were the only ones in there, each practicing and getting a feel for what we needed to do during the wedding.

One part of the song's lyrics goes like this:

He is now to be among you
at the calling of your hearts
Rest assured this troubadour
is acting on His part.
The union of your spirits, here,
has caused Him to remain
for whenever two or more of you
are gathered in His name
there is Love, there is Love.

Well, a man shall leave his mother
and a woman leave her home...

But when the young man got to the point where he was supposed to say the "a man shall leave his mother and a woman leave her home" part,

he accidentally sang: "Well a man shall leave his wife, and a woman leave her...whoops! I better not sing it that way during the service."

And he backed up and started over, but I got a good laugh out of it.

And during the wedding when he sang the song, both his guitar playing and singing were perfect; accurate lyrics and everything.

I was listening for it too.