Saturday afternoon, October 29th, Reverend Robyn Michalove and I co-officiated Natalie and Ike’s wedding at the Horseshoe Bay Resort, in Horseshoe Bay, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:
Ike describes the beginning of this love story thus: “I first met Natalie… interning… We… didn’t connect again until… we both started [working]… We… became fast friends... bonded over music, food, and sports, and after about 8 months of friendship… recognized that there was something more to our feelings for one another... Natalie was the coolest person I knew… I was slow to do anything about my feelings…”
Natalie elaborates a little bit more. Brace yourself, Ike: “Ike and I first interned together… I always thought he was very funny… fun, and cute. When we started work… I still thought that… We ended up becoming very good friends… A minor crush… turned into a major crush… But I was convinced that he wasn’t interested in me...
There were also several opportunities for him to make a move and he never did… On St. Patrick’s Day 2016, I… found an old fortune cookie. It said, ‘Your heart will get what it desires.’ I… decided… to make it clear how I felt.” The rest is history.
The great muckraker and social reformer, Upton Sinclair, once said, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!” So, you will understand how difficult it is for me to acknowledge the truth of this next quote from Natalie: “I don’t think that marriage is a necessary part of a successful life or relationship.” So, I imagine I can hope for a somewhat limited number of referrals from this bride. Noted…
Seriously, though, she continues: “I’ve sometimes brushed off people[‘s]… congratulations… I’m very excited and happy that we’ve chosen to get married, but it’s a choice we’re making, not a prize we’re winning or something major that we’ve accomplished.”
She clarifies, though, “I do think there is something incredibly moving and valuable about deciding (if you want) to commit your life to a partnership with another person and to stating that commitment to your community.” And Ike agrees: “I want to confirm our commitment to one another and make our partnership an even more solidified and tangible thing.”
Natalie and Ike are 100% correct. Legal benefits aside, this is perhaps the ONLY reason one should marry in the modern world. It is not that marriage is just a piece of paper, but when a couple marries, they should basically have a relationship that is already so strong, that they are merely adding that piece of paper to what is already a rock solid partnership.
A beautiful interfaith ceremony like this one offers a couple one more unique opportunity besides just publicly proclaiming their love and commitment to each other. As Natalie says, “I want our community to see how we are choosing to weave together our faiths and values and traditions, that we’re not putting one person’s… over the other’s, that we’re not watering down… but… tak[ing] the elements of both that we truly value… to serve as a foundation for us…
And Ike adds, “I love Natalie with my entire heart, and I’m excited to declare that to her in the tradition of both of our faiths and families, legally, and in a way that’s unique to us through our wedding ceremony. And I’m equally excited for her to do the same for me.”
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