Al fresco nuptials

As Clare felt well enough for a car excursion this morning, we went up the coast to explore the beach resort of La Herradura and its environs, adjacent to Almunecar. It's a place frequented by seasonal holiday makers from Granada and the interior mountain region. At this time of year it's empty of tourists, many churrangitos and bars are still closed. It's a bit as I recall Santa Pola was when we were last there in May-June 2009. We found the little covered market, bought some cherries and fish for supper, then returned for lunch.
 

At three I made the twenty minute uphill walk to the Restaurant 'Torre de San Juan de Cupertino' overlooking Nerja and the Bay. The wedding blessing was due to take place on the roof terrace, and preparations were proceeding with a nervous eye on dark rain clouds above. Thankfully we were spared a downpour. All the wedding guests arrived punctually by coach, and the ceremony went without a hitch. This was a Celtic wedding, an Irishman marrying a Scottish lassie, so several of the men wore kilts.

I found that I approached the event with an unusual degree of nervousness, as this was the first time that I've ever conducted a wedding blessing that wasn't in a church. An effort had been made to create a sacred space, with rows of seats in a semicircle, a table covered with a cloth with flowers on it, and a floral arch for the bride and groom to stand under. But, on a balcony facing the sea there were railings, but no walls, no sense of enclosure holding together the two families being bonded together by this young couple. Although the familiar ritual unfolded easily and comfortably enough, I was aware of doing something that I'd never done before. 

It's hard to decipher this feeling and what lies behind it. Church buildings somehow represent and contain the tradition and some of the meaning to be found in making a marriage. Making the same ritual away from that environment, all there is to work with is what we bring with us. It's very Quaker, Congregationalist, or plain existentialist in essence, worthy of due regard when it comes to the human dimension of sacred commitment. And I'm impressed by the effort made by couples and their families to make it work for them the way they want it to. 

Without a sacred building, few props are available to us, faced with the ambiguity that accompanies much of our understanding and experience. In the absence of the traditional comforts of religion I had to work harder than usual to make this wedding as meaningful as it needed to be for the couple, and for myself as the minister of religion. This will certainly be a memorable day for them. I hope it will help them stay married for as long as they both shall live. That's what it's all about, whatever way it's done, after all.