Ashley~
I don't know if you know how Catholic weddings work, but...
The procession began with a song. It was very Jesus-y.
Immaculate Mary, your praises we sing
You reign now in Heaven with Jesus our King.
Ave, Ave, Ave, Maria!
Ave, Ave, Maria!
And after that ended, we stood for "Trumpet Voluntary".
Then we turned to page #669 in our hymnals for "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore We".
After all that, Father did the greeting.
Man, I like being one and all, but... God, we Catholics sing way too much.
Speaking of which, we then sang the refrain of "Gloria" with the choir directly after the greeting. And I know that at least two-thirds of Sarah Beth's side does NOT understand this. Er, I dunno. Are Wizards Catholic? I mean, not as a whole. I bet there are Jewish Wizards and, like, Muslim Wizards and all that. I'm sure at least ONE of them is Catholic. I bet it's that really old guy with the white coat and puffy shirt.
I remembered that I had forgotten to brush my teeth. My breath smelled of Walker's Crisps and ginger beer.
Everyone was really content in the crowd. There was Rufus Fudge. There was the Malfoy party. There was Dolores Umbridge. She was sitting on the edge of the pew. She was being ignored by the people around her. She herself seemed distant, like she would rather have been somewhere else.
I remember Sarah Beth saying that she had run into more legal issues. Some dire stuff they found from the war.
Then there was our Maid of Honour, Eleanor Malfoy. She seemed very... strange. She may have been sedated at the time. I worried about her speech.
And then... Sarah Beth came out. She was - oh my God. She was stunning. Dressed beautifully, all silky white, her hair tied back. She smiled like it was the greatest day of her life (probably because it was her wedding and one usually hopes that one's wedding is the greatest day of their life, but you get my point). It was just one of those moments that reminded me just how perfect she was. She was walked out by Cornelius Fudge, their arms locked. He smiled and wiped his cheek with a handkerchief. When she finally reached me, we gazed at each other and I thought of nothing else but how lucky I was.
All that I had gone through ever since I met Sarah Beth came to me in that moment. Finding out about her magic, meeting her family and friends, learning about the world that she came from. Quitting the Bean on her behalf. Opening the Brew. The hunt for the ring. That very morning leading up to me standing right there, with her, and the Father speaking to us. I was staggered by this realization that I was about to begin a new life with this fabulous woman.
God, this should never have happened. A bloke like me never gets an opportunity like this in real life. Things like this don't happen this way in real life, right? Do they? Things are usually, I dunno, rockier? I mean, things have been rocky. I watched my former boss die in the middle of a civil court case, and... and...
Oop. Vow time.
"I, Ashley Carter, take you, Sarah Beth Cumberland, for my lawful wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part."
So anyway, to shorten this whole thing, the procession went beautifully. The reception was also great. I had NO clue what songs Jeff had picked for the whole thing, but... yeah, it was fantastic.
I'm sorry, I'm so happy about all this, it's all just a blur when I try to remember it. I think that Sarah Beth could recount the whole thing better than me...
