Well, the priest didn't actually say that, but he could have.
Mary Beth's friend Elisabeth invited us to her wedding yesterday. She didn't tell us that there were actually 103 couples getting married at the same time in a mass wedding organized by the mayor of the district Elisabeth lives in. Or that one of the other couples was her sister and her boyfriend. We were told it was starting at 10 am, but we didn't arrive until 10:15. When we got there, couples were taking turns walking into a white tent to Mendelssohn's 'Wedding March' being played over and over. Elisabeth and Harvey weren't even there yet. "Are you two getting married?" several asked us, despite Mary Beth not even wearing a white dress. I guess we just look nuptial. By 10:40, they started the wedding with a few words from the mayor, but Elisabeth still hadn't arrived! Did they get 'cold feet'? Were they already sitting down and we couldn't find a dark-haired girl in a white dress sitting with 102 others? I asked a man who had a clipboard with a bunch of names if they had arrived. "Not yet," he confirmed after checking with the corresponding check-in table. "Is that her?" I asked Mary Beth at 10:50, when yet another late bride was showing up. "Yes! That's her!" One of the aides handed Elisabeth a bouquet and pinned a boutonniere on Harvey. They signed the paperwork and took their seats.
After a few more words from the mayor and a priest and the presentation of special couples (e.g. The oldest groom was 89 years old!) they declared them married and raffled off some appliances, the grand prize being an oven. Thankfully, they didn't read off all of their names, or it would have taken several hours. We were impressed by all the perks the municipality gave the couples: flowers, presents, a photo booth and they even had groomsmen and bridesmaids!
