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Sunday, May 8, 2011

A Royal Wedding

A Royal Wedding Party—Forever and Ever
Oh, how I have scoffed at the royal wedding of “Commoner Kate and Royal Prince William” finding myself annoyed by the obsession with a royalty that is not my own. I have watched the magazine racks filling up with magazine after magazine of one royal photo after another, begging me to participate in the hype. My husband and I mutually scoffed at the wedding, almost feeling an offense that the world could be so taken by ivory towers and fake pomp and circumstance.

Oh, but then I received an invitation to a wedding party… a “girly girly brunch”. The invitation came on true ivory cardstock, with gold letters emblazoned in italics… I had to go. Although I disdain the idea of royal weddings in a country that I am not living in nor have ties to, I found myself caught up in the idea of a party, a brunch with ladies. And since I am a stay at home mother of two boys, I ache at the chance of any true “girl time”. Finding myself craving fancy dresses, girl’s lunches, and decorating magazines, I was excited by the party, and found myself, ironically, getting caught up in the hype anyway!


I woke up on Friday morning and dressed myself in a cute sundress, hoping that I would not be “too dressy” for such an event. When I arrived, I found that my sundress was almost too casual, as every wedding guest was adorned in wedding finery. The hostess, a truly beautiful artist, had created the loveliest of parties… beautiful tapestries of yellow and white, a wedding cake perfectly frosted and decorated with yellow polka dots, and the finest brunch foods I have seen: prosciutto wrapped melon balls, asparagus salad, mini quiches, and scones with whipped cream and lemon essence.
I found myself being caught up in the fun of it all, as we, a bunch of stay at home mothers bedecked ourselves with fake crowns and veils. Squealing in delight, we sat down on her plush leather couch to enjoy the royal wedding. We could not help but laugh with delight and vain mocking at the ridiculous hats that everyone was wearing. And the celebrities at the royal party were fun to feast over—Victoria Beckham’s severe make-up and Princess Beatrice’s ridiculous hat of pink salmon horns… As the “commoner Kate” finally arrived in the wedding car, I could not help but tear up a little at how beautiful it all was-- the beauty of the hall in which they were wed, the wonderful British accents, and the whispering of a beloved prince, adoring his bride in a whisper of “you look beautiful.”
I could not help myself. The wedding was altogether so glorious, and beautiful. I am now a believer.

So this leads me to think about the wedding in terms of faith. What is it about a wedding that makes a woman giddy, dreaming of fancy cakes and pretty dresses? Are we all obsessed with dress-up or is there something beyond the ceremony, beyond the beauty of it all that are hearts are craving so badly in this celebrity starved society?
I believe, of course, that the wedding is the most intimate of covenants, between a man and a woman. Between a couple and God. There is something beyond a ceremony that grasps my heart. It is the beauty of a simple, but beautiful covenant. A man declaring his mortal love for a woman, a woman declaring her mortal love for a man, and God declaring an eternal love for both. I am swept up in this ceremony, the royal moment of Prince William and Kate. And I realize that we are all aching to be swept up in a royally, ravishing moment ourselves. Perhaps for some of us, it is in the loveliest of palaces with a royal prince. But for me, it is a simple ceremony, with friends and family and the one that I love the most—Christ.
Oh, how I wish for a time when I can understand just how much God’s covenant of love, death, and grace for me have meant. The time when I covenanted with him an undying love, and he answered before and after with a love that will never leave me nor forsake me. It is in the beauty of this eternal love that I adore. Until then, a royal wedding, in one of the loveliest places on earth will only be a shadow of what will come.

2 comments:

  1. Ooooo, sounds like immense fun!! Wow! What a fun party to attend. Jealous!

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  2. That party sounds simply amazing! What a fun day. I too didn't really care about most of it (except for the dress, I kind of have an obsession about wedding dresses....) but when I saw everything together it was all so beautiful :)

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