Weddings and True Love

There are lots of types of love and weddings usually bring the spotlight to bear on the romantic type of love. However, in the past week, as I watched a wedding unfold, I am reminded of another type of true love.

Love can be many things. It can be kind and patient as a groom waiting for his bride to walk up the aisle towards him. It can be exciting like a gaggle of bridesmaids traipsing up the aisle forging a path for the bride. It can be steady like the father of the bride confidently taking his precious daughter’s hand and placing it into the hand of another man. It can be nervous and tentative as the couple repeat vows to each other.

Love is other directed. Rather than being consumed with the self, love is consumed with the other – the object of one’s love.

Perfect and undying love was in evidence at this week’s wedding. I’m sure the bride and groom will say that they saw it in each other’s eyes and heard it in the whispers of the other. They will say it was evidenced by the “I do” statements exchanged. And it was.

But that wasn’t the perfect love I witnessed.

The mother of the bride was driven to distraction by the demands placed on her. But she steadfastly held to a promise made fifteen years ago. She worked her usual schedule while still making three large containers of frosting, baking up seven cake mixes, rolling out fifteen pounds of fondant, and gluing on close to 500 little round balls to a cake.

She panicked, and rightly so, while flipping around fourteen-inch diameter cakes stacking two of them into a crooked pile that would be straightened with frosting. She nearly had a heart attack while rolling out a 22-inch circle of fondant to drape over those stacked cakes. Her hands shook with both fatigue and terror as she made layer after layer of pink and white confection. She was near tears with the placement of one tier onto another.

What I learned was that wedding cakes should be purchased regardless of the cost. I learned that fondant may give the cake a beautifully finished look, but the stuff is not at all tasty and makes the cake much more difficult to cut. I learned that regardless of the many details you take care of for any large event, there are details that are not thought of in advance or cannot be planned for. The event will still be wonderful regardless of the planning or the forgotten details.

I learned that the true love at the wedding is seen by many as residing in the bride and groom. But that is only because the mother stands aside to allow her daughter to shine.