Our church can, at times, be unconventional. Because the wedding was so closely connected with birthdays (the bride’s the day before the wedding, the groom’s the day after), it was decided that we had to include another ‘birthday box’ special at the end of the ceremony.

Then, we also had to incorporate Igor, the church mascot, into some of the photos:

He even went out for the evening meal too!

The afternoon reception was also unconventional: no dancing, just party games! Stacey was the undisputed Connect 4 champion and also enjoyed playing charades:

We enjoyed a silly game of ‘Mr & Mrs’ and tried to match the baby photos of couples with how they look now (more on this later), not to mention writing versions of wedding preparations (my personal favourite was the one which started ‘Gobby and Competitive’ instead of ‘Stacey and Stephen’!) and playing ‘Wedding Speech bingo.’

All in all, a fun day all round!

With the wedding themes focussing on music and photography, the sermon at the wedding looked at 1 Cor 2:9-10. Our senses are incredibly important to us and obviously we had great joy looking at all the beautiful things in church and listening to the music and vows being made. We enjoyed smelling and tasting the lovely food prepared by church members and hugging and kissing the bride and groom to convey our happiness at their happiness. Nonetheless, one key fact of Christian marriage is that we are called to live by faith (2 Cor 5:7) and the most important person at the wedding was not the bride or groom, family or friends, but God who is invisible to the human eye, cannot be heard by the human ear alone, cannot be smelled or touched or tasted by our physical faculties.

God has good plans for us all (Jer 29:11), a fact we celebrated through the Tim Hughes’ song ‘Plans’, and marriage is His idea. In the Biblical account of creation, we read how man made Adam and then Even and how Jesus endorsed this view of marriage through His presence at the wedding at Cana and through His comments when asked about divorce (Matt 19:6). Marriage, ultimately, is meant to be a reflection of God’s love for the church (see Eph 5:32) and the selfless love husbands and wives are called to demonstrate is meant to be a witness of God’s unconditional love for us, demonstrated in Christ’s death for us on the cross (see Rom 5:8).

Marriage, like life itself, has many seasons, but we know God gives generously to all without finding fault (James 1:5) and can rest secure in His goodness and help. Even in the days when we sing in a minor key or life looks monochrome and lacking colour, God’s presence is there to help us and bless us. 1 Cor 2:9-10 reminds us there is so much more to explore in God. The quotation is from Is 64:4, where we read that God ‘acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.’ Waiting and hoping are from the same root wood in Hebrew which is connected to the threads of rope being patiently twisted together (and a marriage is, after all, a ‘cord of three strands which is not easily broken,’ as Eccl 4:11 reminds us), but as we do that, we can be sure that God is the one who will act on our behalf. Our part is to live according to His principles (loving, forgiving, bearing with each other, caring, communicating, sharing, honouring, serving, being unswerving in commitment and faithfulness); He pours out His love and blessing on us.

Bezalel is a name that’s not that well known, even among Christians. Bezalel was the architect of the tent of meeting built during the wilderness wanderings. He designed and oversaw the construction of the tabernacle and Ex 35-40 gives us tons of details about this project, from the mandate to make ‘artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of craftmanship’ (Ex 35:34) to the altars of incense and burnt offering constructed (Ex 37-38) to the priestly garments to be worn (Ex 39). Bezalel and Oholiab and their team of visionaries and skilled workmen created a tabernacle which enabled God’s people to respond adequately to the salvation and revelation they had experienced in their deliverance from Egypt.

Attention to detail has been a key feature of the wedding preparations which have been ongoing now for months and which finally were seen by us all on Friday. I have seen modern-day Bezalels working patiently and painstakingly to create things of beauty. The wedding cake was a triumph in detail. From a photograph of the couple sent in advance, the cake maker (Lisa of Crossgates Cakes) made icing figures of the bride and groom, complete with camera around her neck and earrings in her ears, with glasses and beard coloured exactly to match the photo. The grand piano was made with painstaking detail and the icing figure of the groom positioned perfectly with hands on the keys and foot on the pedal.

Similarly, Ruth Coombs laboured (or played, depending on one’s perspective!) over flower arrangements, making the bouquet for the bride and corsages for bridesmaids and mothers that combined Stacey’s favourite flowers and colours, with tiny details such as silver initials and glittery pins that added sparkle. These details were incorporated into the flower arch at church and the flower arrangements throughout the building. Stephen’s comment was ‘every time I look at them, I notice more details.’ Few people will have had the time to stand and take in all the details, but to an artist, that doesn’t matter. The attention to detail they give is part of their offering, seen by God even if unnoticed by people.

Each person brought their own talents and vision. Julie Stead’s nimble fingers worked on folding napkins into lilypads. If you think that’s easy, you should have seen my attempts at doing exactly the same thing! Ruth Pettitt nudged us all in the right direction for hanging pompoms and hearts and worked tirelessly on sewing the backdrop which was in place for one day only. Claire and her husband from Chappell2Venues tied bows over chair covers to create this stunning visual effect, providing a ‘wishing well’ for cards and sweet trolley which added those finishing touches which people remember long after things are cleared away.

Gemma (chief bridesmaid) lovingly painted names onto every single one of the glasses that were given as gifts to all the guests.

Then there was the musical guest book – an innovative idea from Stacey which nonetheless required precision and accuracy to satisfy the musicians among us. Thanks go to India Walker for carefully cutting out the treble clefs to size and to Stephen, not only for writing the music, but for measuring everything out and making sure it all made sense. Stacey, not a musician, said at one point, ‘It doesn’t have to be perfect’, at which point all the musicians in the household nearly exploded! Artists really do care about the fine detail, even when we wished Stephen had written the song in C major, not F major, so that we did not have to cut out all the B flat signs on the board!

Many may think such details are trivial and unimportant. If God reckoned that the construction of the tabernacle deserved these five chapters in Exodus, however, we didn’t mind the time and effort spent on creating a day to remember and thank all those who helped in every way, from the most artistic to the most mundane, for every single detail was needed and valued.

The twin themes of the wedding at church were music and photography. Stacey has tremendous eyesight, which is obviously a plus for someone passionate about photography, but she also has tremendous vision in the second meaning of that word (not just faculty of sight, but the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination and wisdom.)

Right from the start, Stacey had very clear vision about what she wanted her wedding to be like. She wanted a service that honoured God and a reception that had the ‘wow’ factor. She was adamant that she wanted her wedding at her own church and that the reception should be in the community room, but she also wanted that room to be ‘stunning.’ In her words, she wanted people to walk into the room and say ‘I never thought this room could look like this.’ I wish I could count the number of times I actually heard people say that on Friday.

For vision to succeed, however, other people and hard work are usually needed. Visionaries are not always practical people and team effort is required to make visions into reality. The wedding on Friday proved that in abundance.

The first thing Stacey wanted was to create a photographic backdrop to the room which would enhance the photos. Covering the stage partition was no mean feat; it’s a vast area. We had to consult other people with sewing skills and practical ideas to work out how to actually do this. A good friend of mine, Ruth Pettitt, agreed to work on this idea, sewing material together tirelessly on the hen do and then working with a friend (thanks, Emma!)  until after 11 p.m. on Thursday night to put 300 fairy lights through this material to create the shimmery effect Stacey wanted. Leron (best man) and Stephen (groom) then had to climb scaffolding to staple this creation to the wooden frame around the stage:

The moment that we actually switched the lights on and the whole thing sparkled will remain in my memory for a long time.

The next idea Stacey had was a ‘ceiling full of pompoms’ to create a visual statement of colour (her colour scheme was pink, white and silver). Whilst cost soon put a dampener on this idea (and visionaries must always wrestle with the cold facts of life), we worked on making pompoms and attaching these to create colour and drama. Logistics required engineering skill and precision: attaching pompoms to hoops, ribbons to hoops and then hoops to rafters:

The overall effect, however, was indeed stunning.

The vision continued: transforming blue chairs and tables into a fully coordinated colour scheme through table and chair covers; using flowers to create beauty all around; having a cake that combined both themes with such attention to detail it was breath-taking; a seating plan that had music as its background and so on. The overall effect was lovely.

The spiritual lessons from this are there for all to see. ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish’ (Prov 29:18); we all need vision and revelation to aspire to something greater and better than we already have. But visionaries need practical people too; we all need each other if we are to see vision become reality. The sheer number of people involved in the wedding was considerable, all bringing their own particular skills to the table (Julie Stead’s napkin-folding abilities, Ruth Coombs’ flower arranging skills, the confectionery skills of Lisa Beddoe of Crossgates Cakes, not to mention the army of church volunteers who folded, carried, baked, made sandwiches, climbed scaff9lding, weeded, washed up, tided away and served with good humour and generosity). We are a body and work best when all the parts of that body work together. May God not only give us vision, but the skill, determination, patience and perseverance to see vision become reality.

On Wednesday and Thursday, an army of volunteers arrived in different shifts (morning, afternoon and evening) to prepare for the wedding of Stephen and Stacey, which will take place today (Friday 11th September) at 1 p.m. We cannot possibly convey our heartfelt thanks to all who willingly gave time and effort in these preparations, but let this be the first of many THANK YOUs…

Behind the scenes, there has been baking…

… and weeding outside…

Then the scaffolding was put up in order to be able to do the decorations in the community room:

Bridegroom and best man worked tirelessly on pompoms:

… though there was time for a lunch break!

There were games to prepare and balloons to inflate!

… and table decorations and flowers to prepare:

… and finally, late into the night, friends worked on a backdrop for the reception:

Now it’s time to enjoy!

There is a flurry of activity happening at church all week as we prepare for the wedding of Stephen and Stacey on Friday 11th September at 1 p.m. For all those travelling to the venue, please note that there will be no parking in the church car park, but there is a car park available further down Market Street on the left.

A wedding is always a special occasion and church members and friends are working busily behind the scenes to decorate the building in many different ways and to prepare food for the reception which will be held in the community room after the service. Our thanks to all involved; please do pray for the happy couple as they prepare to take this huge step of marriage.

There will be no prayer meeting or Bible study tomorrow (Thursday), but preparation will be ongoing for the wedding, so if you are available to help, you can come along to that!

Because of the wedding, there will be no Parent & Toddler Group this Friday, but normal service will be resumed next Friday (18th September). All other services are unaffected, but remember that the Sunday morning service this coming Sunday (13th September) is at Cherry Tree Court at 10.30 a.m.