Order of Service

In order to cut the rapidly escalating cost of the wedding, we are going to do our own Order of Service. The church registrar, Mrs. Sarah Parks, has kept of copy of the Order of Service from most of the weddings she’s registered. Kathryn also wanted ideas on hymns and readings, and Sarah’s a helpful woman, who can’t give you enough information and advice on the protocol of church weddings. I told her that Kathryn was coming home for the weekend, and she invited me to call and pick up her Order of Service collection, two large files bulging with every shape size and colour of leaflet.

Kathryn arrived at 10.00pm tired after a day’s work and the long train journey. She was missing Aaron, but relieved that he was on his way back to camp, and none of the soldiers injured in the ambush had died. She livened up looking through the examples I’d picked out, some as possible templates and others definitely not. They ranged from classic cream card with minimal decoration, to cards with various sized colour photos of the bride and groom on the back or front, or both. Even more over the top were portrayals of the betrothed as babies, or at different stages of childhood. But the prize went to the Order of Service with a photograph of the couple smiling away in some pub, raising pint glasses, obviously inebriated.

Pictures of the church looked more appropriate. It's a beautiful church, and there were black and white, colour and sketch versions.

Laughing together, we looked through elaborate designs with stuck on flowers, leaves, bows, hearts, ribbons or mesh which decorated every kind of paper and card, plain, pearlescent or embossed. Many of them had obviously been created by bride, groom or obliging relatives, amateur computer nerds, like us.

"Perhaps we should leave it to the professionals?" I said to Kathryn.

Copyright © 2007 Barbara Attwood