Marriage & Wedding Information

Whats a Goldfish Doing at a Wedding?


Time was when you'd open a wedding invitation you'd find an understated high quality piece of parchment, with an uncompromisingly clear font, requesting, ever so formally, the honour of your presence.

Then came radical changes, described by those in the know as, giving the wedding back to the people. The creation of the ubiquitous Civil Marriage Celebrant - and anything goes era.

Stealthily at first came sneaking on to the front page of the invitation miniscule wedding bells, intertwining wedding rings and peaceful doves with their wings folded as if wondering what the heck they were doing there.

Traditionalists - and those too poor to follow the trend - cried out against this bad taste. Nor were they wrong to fear the full thrust of indulgence to come. Invitations, masquerading as old time scrolls, and delivered by Knights right from King Arthur's court, began to appear at suburban doors. Following the Knights came Wizards from Ali Baba's enchanted cave.

There is no saying where all this would end, when the PC was born and stemmed the tide.

Overnight, so it seems, the excesses transformed themselves into cottage industry, and the traditionalists who had howled at the excess engendered by the coming of the Civil Marriage Celebrant could only stare in horror at the shambles created by the advent of the PC and its companion, the Bubble Jet printer.

Out the window went the parchment and the honour of your presence. Taking it's place was a piece of brown recycled paper, with some unrecognizable font, proclaiming cheerily, "Jim and I are getting married, come and have some fun with us next Sunday."

"Fun?" my husband of 40 odd years snorted. "They're getting married to have fun?" Being something of an etymologist (fancier of words for the rest of us) he began to thumb the well-worn dictionary to find out what fun meant and when he'd had it last. But that's another story.

Getting back to the invitations, and the appearance of computers, the wedding bells and the hearts and rings and flowers were given a swift shrift. Instead we puzzled at wedding invitations covered with cats, dogs, butterflies and yes, the latest one, two gold fish.

There they were on the envelope, swimming demurely side by side on the sea of white, while the invitation itself was awash with them. It took an hour, plus a strong magnifying glass before I could decipher the words.

Bring no gifts, was the first bit of welcome information I fished out of the jumble. We have everything we need. We have each other. Oh, the naiveté of infatuation! "But if you would like to bring a gift," continued the missive, "please bring something for our goldfish."

About the Author

Vlady is one of Australia's longest serving Civil Marriage Celebrants. She is the author of 'The Complete Book of Australian Weddings' and 'The Small Organisation Handbook'.

Visit her at http://www.vlady-celebrant.com


MORE RESOURCES:

How Getting Married Made Me An Activist
Newsweek - Nov 15, 2008
This NEWSWEEK editor's wedding has put him in the middle of the culture wars. Now, as he and his spouse wait to see if their marriage is valid, ...


Wedding season is back with a bang in Capital
Times of India, India - Nov 9, 2008
NEW DELHI: Wintry Delhi days may slow down much of the city, but for the effusive marriage season it is time to stir again. Quite literally, weddings wake ...


The 5 W's of getting your wedding license
New York Daily News, NY - Nov 9, 2008
BY ANNA T. HIRSH White dresses, colorful bridesmaids, fondant-covered cakes and cover bands – these delightful details might be the building blocks of a ...


Prince Charles' wedding might be 'illegal'
Expressindia.com, India - Nov 9, 2008
London, November 10: The legality of Prince Charles' wedding to Camilla Parker Bowles has come into question after constitutional experts revealed that ...


Late night weddings and fireworks continue
The News International, Pakistan - Nov 13, 2008
By M. Zeeshan Azmat Last night I attended a wedding ceremony near the Five Star signal, North Nazimabad. The series of marriage lawns and halls on both ...


Think of the children???
Pleasanton Weekly,  USA - Oct 28, 2008
I agree with you. How dare the Yes on Prop 8 campaign use children in their commercials? The parents of the children on field trips did not consent to their ...


Where I Live - News Limited Community Newspapers

Hard work key to couple’s marriage
Where I Live - News Limited Community Newspapers, Australia - Nov 12, 2008
Golden couple ... Peter and Joan Waltisbuhl, of Cashmere, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 25. CHILDHOOD sweethearts Peter and Joan ...


Maui Weddings – Exotic Marriage with Deep Rooted Values
NewDesignWorld (press release), UK - Nov 10, 2008
Maui Weddings are getting popular day by day. The way in which these marriages are conducted is exceptional. In order to relish their marriage day for the ...


www.jaintoday.com offers free services for jain community.
BigNews.biz (press release), MA - Oct 29, 2008
... jain university, jain schools, jain colleges, jain centre, jain society, jain homes, jain sanskar, jain vivah low cost marriage wedding, jain schemes, ...


RE[3]: Too bad
Newmobilecomputing.com - Oct 26, 2008
It seems to me that the marriage side of things should be handled completely by the church, and after you get married you should go off to the courthouse to ...

Marriage-Wedding - Google News

home | site map
© 2006