Wedding Blog

What a difference a visit makes!

Seeing the pictures of St. George’s Parish online gave such a different impression than seeing it in person…

Mr. Shortcake and I are completely in love with our tiny, pre-(BC)-historic church. Or should I say chapel? The church is TINY!

(The Family Shortcake, circa, the Jurassic Era. Do you see the lanky Miss Shortcake on the very right? Awkward! Awkward! Aughh, the pubertal angst!!)

Just joking. But that Drumheller church does bear striking resemblance to our real one:

So cute, right? I pretty much heard the Dixie Cups singing "go-ing to the chap-pel" as soon as we got out of the car, it was that adorable.

Some side views/gratuitous preciousness:

It’s so…churchy. And our priest (Anglican), didn’t laugh at me when I listed that, either, as one of the reasons we chose St. George.

It has a pretty memorial garden on one side as well that we can use for group photos after the receiving line:

Now, the inside, as befitting a 250 year old church, is VERY retro; lots of dark wood, gorgeous stained glass windows, more dark wood….

Seeing it in person knocked any ideas of pew decorations out of my head - it’s just too small - I’ll barely fit down the aisle as it is, and would rather not knock over every pew adornment on my way down! I’ve cancelled our altar arrangements, as the church altar guild provides fresh flowers every week, and can special order arrangements at no charge for a wedding.

Seeing the church in person has also made a huge difference in our music selection. The church is too cozy, too intimate, for some majestic march. And the aisle?

Holy moly.

You’re seeing it in its entirety in the next two photographs:

That’s it. Mr. Shortcake timed me walking down it at a stately snail’s pace - and it was (wishfully rounding up) thirty seconds long.

So, I have thrown away my beautiful classical pieces, and am now looking at meaningful songs that can put across their message and their melody in about 60 seconds.

Why 60 seconds? My floral designer made an excellent suggestions for short-aisled brides:

When the doors open, stop and pause and take in the scene. This gives your attendant time to arrange your train, veil, etc (if necessary), and gives you some precious moments to drink in all the loving faces around you.

I love this suggestion, as I’ve heard too many friends say that they don’t remember their ceremony at all, as it just went by in a huge, mushy, blur. And how dramatic would that be? Opening the doors, and just standing there in my dress, smiling at Mr. Shortcake until it hurts?

So here are the songs, I’ve narrowed them down to three retro-riffic choices:

1) Percy Faith & His Orchestra: ’Theme from a Summer Place"

lyrics here

2) The Beatles: "Here, There, and Everywhere" (note: would have an acoustic guitar player instead)

lyrics here

3) Cat Powers: "Sea of Love"

lyrics here

Which would you choose?