FYI ~ ticket please

The ticket ~ Syracuse, NY • click to embiggenRev. Hobson punching their tickets ~ Syracuse, NY • click to embiggenReverend Hobson's first wedding ceremony went off without a hitch. Well, except for the fact that everyone, to include the best man / maid of honor / Reverend Hobson and most notably the wedding couple, forgot all about the wedding rings until after I had pronounced them husband and wife (by the power vested in me). But at least they got their rickets punched.

In any event, I kept it short and sweet (the temperature inside the railroad car was over 100˚F) and everyone had a great time.

FYI, here is the script / text from my service (written by me - with an assist from the wife - and dictated to the wife during our morning car ride to the NYS Fair on the day of the event):

Welcome all of you to Luke and Linda's wedding. It means a lot to them that you are all aboard to see them off as they begin their journey. And, I'd like to thank Luke and Linda, for affording me the opportunity to be the conductor for this wedding ceremony...

When I first was informed that Luke and Linda were going to be married on railroad car at the NYS Fair, I thought it to be a bit weird. However, after thinking about it and now actually being here, I think it's really weird.

Nevertheless, I guess it is rather appropriate to begin one of life's most important journeys on this antique railroad car. After all, the naked truth is, if Linda didn't have a fondness for old things (indicate my brother), we wouldn't be here today.

In any event, like all train trips, there might be whistle stops at strange locations, derailments, or even train wrecks along the way. But I would remind Luke and Linda that the journey, with all its rewards and hazards, is at least as important as the destination. Therefore, enjoy this trip, that begins in new York state and arrives at the state of connubial bliss.

In that spirit, I now present Luke and Linda with their one way tickets, to their ultimate! destination.

Now, as You have all journeyed here to share the day as Luke and Linda become husband and wife, I invite you to witness their vows. Without actually knowing who's the engineer and who's riding the caboose on this train, I will begin with Luke.

Do you Luke, take Linda to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?

Ticket please (punch the ticket)

Do you Linda, take Luke to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for Rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?

Ticket please (punch the ticket)

By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.

BTW, that last sentence is one that I never imagined ever uttering in my lifetime.

PS thanks to my son, The Cinemascapist, for designing the ticket on very short notice. While I had planned to do it, I nevertheless left home 2 weeks before the ceremony (taking Hugo to Rochester for hockey camp) without tickets in hand and never thinking that I wouldn't be back home before the ceremony. So, on the afternoon before the wedding date, I called Aaron from our cottage on Blue Mountain Lake and asked him to design the ticket. He send me a proof via email and I arranged for him to email the finished ticket to a Kinko printing center in Syracuse and was able to pick up the tickets the next morning on our way to the Fair. My thanks to Aaron the modern wonder of the internet and email.

Update on Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at 08:07AM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comment(s): John Linn wrote: "Do you Linda, take Luke to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for Rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?" .... Can we assume a typo or is there more to the story?"

And Sven W (no link provided) wrote: "A railroad car certainly presents limited opportunities for the wedding photog!"

my response(s): John, I guess the wife isn't as good at taking dictation as I thought. And Sven, that's no wedding photog, that's my wife (who made the picture) - the guy in the orange shirt is a tv videographer).

Comments

[John Linn]

"Do you Linda, take Luke to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, for Rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

Can we assume a typo or is there more to the story?

[Sven W]

A railroad car certainly presents limited opportunities for the wedding photog !